Ep. 80: Michael High - Digitalization and Business Transformation

Contact Michael High:


linkedin.com/in/michaelhigh


 


Michael High in the Media:


https://www.afponline.org/ideas-inspiration/topics/articles/Details/bridging-the-gap-between-it-and-finance/


https://www.afponline.org/ideas-inspiration/topics/articles/Details/the-power-of-diversity-in-finance/?utm_source=linkedin&utm_medium=social_media&utm_campaign=May20_week2


 


Michael High Articles:


https://www.afponline.org/ideas-inspiration/discussions/afp-conversations-podcast/Details/shell-oil's-michael-high-on-the-challenge-of-bringing-fp-a-to-deepwater-drilling


https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/dont-vacuum-cleaner-youll-replaced-one-michael-high%2F/


https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/senior-management-do-your-best-leaders-have-ax-grind-michael-l-high/


FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
Adam: (00:05)
Welcome back for episode 80 of Count Me In I'm your host, Adam
Larson, and this is IMA's podcast about all things affecting the
accounting and finance world. Today's episode features Shell's,
Deep Water Gulf of Mexico Business Unit CFO, Michael High. Mike
is passionate about thought and people leadership, diversity and
inclusiveness, digital transformation and personal development.
In his upcoming conversation you have with my cohost Mitch, Mike
highlights the different states of going digital, finance's role
in business transformation, and what it takes to effectively lead
a business transformation. Thanks for joining us, and we hope you
enjoy the episode. 
 
Mitch: (00:49)
For a little background and context and this conversation, can
you please tell us what finance digitalization is? 
 
Michael: (00:57)
Thanks for the question. So in terms of what the finance
digitalization is to me, I like to start a bit with a kind of
vocabulary for me, at least a lesson that I learned on this
journey, and there are three terms that seem to get thrown out
together at the same time, and sometimes try to mean the same
thing, but I think they have a bit distinct meaning. So the first
one for me is just this idea of digitization, which I think is
something we've experienced mostly through our lifetime. This is
that switch from analog to digital, where we went from filling
out paper forms to doing so electronically. And so for some
people, when they hear digitalization or even finance
digitization, they're, they're thinking about that element of it.
And for me, that's at a minimum step one, and then most places
were far beyond it, but there are still pockets where actually
this is an important part of digital transformation. The second
one is digitalization, which for me is kind of a second phase to
that. And this is where we're for me thinking about the current
ways that we do work and how can we make those current ways and
this current business models more productive or perhaps simpler,
or make it a little bit easier to collaborate, but it's, by and
large within the paradigm of the existing way that work is done.
And the third phase for me is this concept of digital
transformation, which is actually where you're opening up
entirely new ways of doing business, perhaps even new business
models, new ways to even approach the market and fundamentally
different ways of working. And so, for me, that's where the most
value ultimately lies is in that, and I think it's also where you
get beyond things like just looking at the IT cost or even the IT
side of the equation to actually looking more fundamentally at a
minimum data, but also process and also business
models. 
 
Mitch: (02:39)
So with all those considerations, what is the role of finance in
the bigger business transformation for an organization?
 
Michael: (02:48)
I think are some of our foundational skills, even around
understanding value management, understanding cost management,
these, these core skills actually come to the forefront. And it's
really important that we help our business colleagues let's say
frame the decision appropriately and evaluate it 
appropriately. I think it's kind of easy, especially if you're
thinking about digital transformation, just simply from that
digitization or even digitalization perspective, the kind of
first and second steps that are referred to that, you only think
about the first order cost effects of this. And I often have
found myself in conversations where it's challenged by, well,
Excel is free, so why would I possibly spend more money to do
something? And of course, when it's framed that way, it is hard
to actually talk your way out of that argument. But when you
actually step back and say, actually what we're after here is a
fundamentally different way of doing business. You start to
realize that the cost side of the equation is actually only a
ver...