Chris Skinner's blog

Shaping the future of finance

Future

Imagine if business was driven by ESG

I’ve written so much that you would think there was nothing more to write. But there always is. One thing about all I’ve written that is consistent is leadership. What seems to be annoying me the most is a lack of leadership or, rather, a lack of the right leadership. Usually my conversation about leadership…

Where is the banking revolution?

That old expression that what goes up must come down applies to so many things. An umbrella goes up and down, dependent upon the weather. Company executives who are going up will come down, most times. And businesses that appear to be bullet-proof can stumble and fall. I’m thinking Blockbuster, Nokia, Kodak. Today, we look…

Bezos in Space … at what cost?

Not sure about you, but I would really like to fly to the moon. It seems mad, but flying anywhere seemed mad a century ago. Flying around the world is a reality today, as long as there’s no pandemic, so flying around the solar system will be a reality tomorrow. In that spirit, my friends…

Order or chaos … you decide

I’ve been isolating too much and watching too much TV. Binging on Netflix, Amazon Prime and such like, almost every film I watch seems to be the same. Good versus Evil and Order versus Chaos. Half of society seems determined to make everything sunny and bright; the other half seems determined to destroy, disrupt and…

Galileo or Mars – where do you want to go?

A final thought for the week on bank transformation. I often talk to banks. Some I’ve spoken to for decades. It shocks me that, after decades, they still have exactly the same issues. Fragmentation of data; an organisation built over decades with systems that are not integrated; data that is split into lines of business…

The Idiocracy that is Britain: COVID or COVOID?

I’m reflecting on COVID rules. As a guy who lives in Europe, the rules are that I need to fill in passenger locator forms, get a pre-flight COVID test (fit to fly), and a landing form registered with a QR code. It’s challenging and clunky, but turns out to be actually quite easy and no…

The future has no flags

I grew up as an Englishman. Then I became British. Now, I’m a European. But then we had Brexit and all the other stuff. Yet now I live in Poland. I believe in a world of the future that has no borders, no flags, no barriers. Am I deluded? During my lifetime, the world has…

Debt keeps us under the State’s thumb

I didn’t think about it until recently, but every generation is paying the debts of their parents and ancestors. When you say it, it’s obvious. It’s clear. Yet, why are we always thinking about the future whilst gorging on the past? I can see this with the arguments over the climate emergency today, but I…

Proud to recognise diversity – but just for a month?

Were you proud of June? Did you notice that June was the month to celebrate Pride. Do you know what Pride is? As June ends and July starts, I had to reflect when I read an article by Christer Holloman, founder of Divido. It’s about diversity. I often look at things from the point of diversity….

The economic outlook post-pandemic: more caring and sharing?

There are 100s of economic forecast reports out there, but I got one this morning from the Asian bank DBS with the following headlines: Growth normalising The reopening of US and European economies points to a snapback in economic growth and inflation. We see central banks gradually tapering their asset purchases while holding policy rates…