Alastair Thomson on Creative Accountancy

What is Creative Accountancy? That's what I'm exploring on this episode. It's a term I've invented — a deliberate play on the term 'Creative Accounting' — to describe the approach which my guest Alastair Thomson adapts to his role as an accountant. He's actually much more than an accountant, but that's his background.

Nowadays, Alastair advises companies in a growth phase, which requires him to adopt an approach that might not fit what you'd expect from an accountant.

I'm fascinated by this because I think one of the root causes of human risk is people sticking rigidly to the remit of their role without thinking beyond that. To be clear, there are some roles where that is precisely what we want and need people to do — we don't want brain surgeons, air traffic controllers or those engaged in food safety to do other things than the task at hand. But very often, we do. So I think Alastairs' approach is of interest, not just to accountants, but other disciplines like Compliance, HR and Audit, to name just three. If we want to succeed in the 21st century, we will need more people to be creative and dynamic.

To find out more about Alastair and his books: https://thebetterbusinesscompany.com/