The Playbook
My favourite way to learn something new is two steps: research, then ELI5. Here's how I use an ELI5 skill in Claude to turn tricky concepts into simple visual explainers, from group KPIs to working capital.
In the Lab
AI answers were becoming a chore to read. Adding “use ASD-STE100” to my prompts helped cut the clutter. Here’s the difference it made in my finance work.
The Playbook
How I pick between a smarter AI model and a higher effort setting, with real finance examples of when each one actually fixed the output
Field Notes
Old me would have disappeared for three days, built the pack across every entity, made it beautiful, and sent it Thursday night. Then he'd have told me the second half wasn't what he meant. Instead he had a first draft within the hour. Half a day of actual work, all in.
In the Lab
I've started ending my prompts with "ask me clarifying questions first." Two minutes of questions saves twenty of rework.
The Playbook
Most skill.md files I've seen (including my early attempts) are mediocre. The difference between a skill you abandon after two runs and one you rely on every month comes down to how you build it. Here's the framework I use.
The Playbook
Skills (SKILL.md files) turn one-off prompts into reusable workflows that follow your standards every time. Here's what they are, what they look like, and why finance professionals should pay attention.
The Playbook
Slides are the worst part of finance reporting. Not because they're hard, but because they're tedious. Here's the workflow that changed how I build board decks.
The Playbook
I got a stomach bug EXACTLY when it was month-end. I was out two days hating life, then came back to a day and change of prep for our exec meeting. Instead of fluffing around with Excel, I built two working mini apps in Claude in 15 minutes. Here's how, and when to use them versus Excel.
In the Lab
I had handwritten strategy notes that needed to become a real document. Rather than retyping everything, I tested Gemini, ChatGPT and Claude with the same prompt. Here's what happened
The Playbook
You're opening a new chat, uploading the same files, writing the same context paragraph for the third time. The thing that fixed it was Projects.