There is a term in the military known as the “grey man”; I should know having watched most episodes of SAS: Who Dares Wins! Each series has an interrogation round which demonstrates beautifully the upside from playing the “grey man or woman” – essentially, not drawing attention to oneself unnecessarily. Matt Hancock, in the celebrity version of the show, singularly failed in this endeavour, unable to suppress his inherent cockiness and arrogance. He could only have done worse if he had shoved two pencils up his nostrils and shouted, “Wibble!”
There is tremendous upside from avoiding the ire of an interrogator, but there is much more to the role than being boring or somehow doing the bare minimum. Rather, true mastery of the “grey” arts, at least in finance terms, is being entirely dependable, underestimated, and primed to surprise positively to the upside, especially relative to the Hancocks of the world.
We can’t help but view the UK in increasingly “grey” terms, with significant upside to come from a change in overseas perception after a chaotic post-Brexit period. This is already feeding into abundant M&A activity, as buyers take advantage of lowly valuations, a firmer Pound, and a feeling that relative to the US, France, China et. al. we might actually be the grown-ups in the room. Over the next two years, we don’t even need a cunning plan to outperform most others who face relatively worse fiscal, monetary, and/or political headwinds than good old Blighty.
