EP 260: Tracking Complex Projects With On-Demand CFO Christina Sjahli

Published: Jan. 21, 2020, 10:35 a.m.

b'The Nitty-Gritty:\\n\\n\\n\\n* Why clear client communication helps on-demand CFO & cash flow analyst Christina Sjahli manage her complex financial projects* The system she uses to keep track of documents and change history* How she uses deadlines for herself and her clients to manage the progress of her projects* What Christina learned from her corporate finance experience that\\u2019s transferred to her own business\\u2014and what she left behind\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n\\nCan I really learn project management as an entrepreneur?\\n\\n\\n\\nA few of years ago, it became trendy to explain away the operational problems in our businesses by saying something like, \\u201cDammit, Jim! I\\u2019m an entrepreneur, not a manager.\\u201d\\n\\n\\n\\nThis trend was fueled by a book called Rocket Fuel, by Gino Wickman. In Rocket Fuel, Wickman argues that entrepreneurs are Visionaries.\\n\\n\\n\\nHe writes, \\u201cEntrepreneurs hunt. They don\\u2019t manage. They explore rather than analyze. They build companies with vision, creativity, and tenacity; not with policies and procedures.\\u201d\\n\\n\\n\\nHe continues by suggesting that every Visionary needs someone to be their Integrator. The Integrator\\u2019s role is to manage between the entrepreneur\\u2019s vision-driven ideas and the people on the ground actually making those things happen.\\n\\n\\n\\nI bought it. Hook, line, and sinker.\\n\\n\\n\\nThe ideas in Rocket Fuel felt right to me.\\n\\n\\n\\nAfter all, the idea of creating, managing, and\\u2014dear god\\u2014following procedures made me feel all sweaty and claustrophobic.\\n\\n\\n\\nFinally, someone was telling me what I suspected all along: I just wasn\\u2019t good at managing. I wasn\\u2019t built for precision execution. I would always suffocated by routine, analysis, and consistency.\\n\\n\\n\\nLots and lots of other small business owners I know bought this argument too. Soon we saw job descriptions for Integrators everywhere. We saw virtual assistants and online business managers start advertising themselves as Integrators.\\n\\n\\n\\nThe language might be new to you\\u2014but I have a feeling that this distinction between the idea-creators and the idea-managers feels familiar.\\n\\n\\n\\nHere\\u2019s what I\\u2019ve realized since I myself caught the Rocket Fuel fever:\\n\\n\\n\\nWhile it\\u2019s true that some of us are gifted with natural aptitude toward one side of this spectrum between vision and management, that doesn\\u2019t get us off the hook for taking the time and care that\\u2019s necessary to manage projects well.\\n\\n\\n\\nJust because I\\u2019m an idea machine doesn\\u2019t mean I can\\u2019t also be a procedure machine.\\n\\n\\n\\nJust because I\\u2019m creative doesn\\u2019t mean I don\\u2019t have to follow systems.\\n\\n\\n\\nJust because I\\u2019m fueled by vision doesn\\u2019t mean I get a pass on thinking through the process behind my vision\\u2019s execution.\\n\\n\\n\\nPlenty of people will say that you\\u2019ve got to stay in your Zone Of Genius to be successful. At the risk of mixing metaphors, I say cross training is important.\\n\\n\\n\\nI\\u2019m not either/or, I\\u2019m both/and.\\n\\n\\n\\nAnd the more I\\u2019ve stepped into everything I can bring to the table,...'