In this article, the author explains why FP&A should take advantage of the possibilities offered by large language models like ChatGPT and how such tools can help us improve the decision-making process.
Thorsteinn Siglaugsson
Thorsteinn has for many years provided consulting and executive training in The Logical Thinking Process methodology for business analysis, improvement and strategy formulation. He now runs an online practitioner training course in the Logical Thinking Process, provided by Marris Consulting in Paris. Thorsteinn is the author of "From Symptoms to Causes – Applying the Logical Thinking Process to an Everyday Problem" and maintains a blog on logical analysis and critical thinking, "The Edge of Reason" (https://thorsteinnsiglaugsson.substack.com).
Thorsteinn has been involved in FP&A for over 20 years. His experience as a consultant, trainer and manager covers business intelligence, planning and budgeting and software development. He has been active in training and development in the field, participated in the Beyond Budgeting Roundtable and has written extensively on planning, budgeting and decision-making. He is a member of the subcommittee on strategy and performance evaluation of the Icelandic Management Society, and chairman from 2020-2023.
Thorsteinn holds a BA degree in philosophy, an MBA from INSEAD and is a certified expert in The Logical Thinking Process.
Author's Articles
FP&A expert has to help management make the right decisions. The expert must be able to perform a rigorous logical analysis of the consequences of the decision. This is why an FP&A specialist trained and experienced in visual cause-effect analysis can stand out from the crowd.
Setting targets and defining KPIs is one of the key tasks of FP&A professionals. Defining KPIs is tricky. When properly done they can really drive performance, but sometimes it is the other way around. We see this in the following practical example of the application of the Logical Thinking Process methodology for problem solving.
In the first part of this discussion we identified the root cause that prevents FP&A to deliver its full value. In fact we have identified a core conflict of FP&A. This conflict can be described in different ways.