Benefit of the doubt

I've thought long and hard about writing this blog but it needs to be said - or it needs to be written anyway.

As part of a recent Purchasing Coach relaunch I've brought to the fore what I, and those who have worked with me for years, see as my USP - my use of unconventional tools to unlock potential.

Using them doesn't mean I can't do conventional. Using them also doesn't mean I can't understand business needs, and the requirement to meet or even exceed procurement objectives.

I get that - I've successfully worked in procurement for major corporates for over 30 years - I really do get that.

What I have discovered though is when people are stuck, or breakthrough thinking is required convention doesn't always cut it.

That is, doing what you've always done, in the way you've always done it, isn't going to get different results. It hasn't for the last x years, and wont for next x years.

As I've written about before: If what you're doing is working then that's great, I'm happy for you, and I agree you certainly don't need my help. If, however, what you're doing isn't working then doing something different is needed. I have a few ideas on how to help you do that, but let's get this clear, change is needed, and any resistance to that change needs to be addressed. The decision is more about who will help you do that.

I can't think of anything better than being faced with a situation that requires unlocking. Call me odd, but I get a real buzz from that sense of stuckness. Or perhaps the better way of describing it is - I get a buzz from the potential that's available to be released. As a result I've become very good at helping people release that potential.

I have a frustration though - sometimes it feels like those most in need of unlocking, or with the greatest potential to be released are kept away from me :-(.

One of the common reasons I hear from those people who decide not to use me to work with someone else is:

"I totally get you Alison, but they won't. I'm afraid they're just too x,y,z, and not open minded enough to get you."

Let me share with you some examples of the circumstances in which I've heard these words:

• A senior executive was feeling very stuck and unmotivated in their role and was thinking of leaving. After a session using a couple of the unconventional tools they'd got their old joy for work back, and had a spring in their step. 
• Leaders at networking events who gained significant insight from using one of the tools. 
• A very conventional manager who had relaxed in my company, opened up and told me things they shouldn't have, and told me they knew I would do the job very well.
• A procurement exec who has worked with me before, and they and their team have benefited from the work I do, and the way I do it, but they have now moved to a new team.
• An MD of a supplier who saw how good I was at what I did and how I did it.  

I asked a trusted colleague and expert on influencing why this might be happening and their insightful response was

• "You're just very good at getting rapport with people - so they think you're like them, and that like them you will also have problems with the same people they have problems with."

I wonder if other things are at play too.

• The need to conform can get in the way ie all those musts, oughts, and shoulds of what is acceptable in business and what isn't acceptable. After all it's taken me long enough to be comfortable selling the unconventional, so I understand it's going to be even harder for others.
• We don't take our own identify off before we stand in the shoes of the other person to see if they might benefit from a session.  
• We don't give the other person the benefit of the doubt for being open minded enough - ie we've written them off. Yet it's those very people I get the most satisfaction from working with and often get the biggest shift in behaviour from.
• Because I acted in a certain way with you - you assume I'll act exactly the same way with the other person - for whom that behaviour, you think, will push their buttons.
• Some of the blocks are personal, and someone can feel very exposed when discussing them. In any session these are handled sensitively. Someone can however feel very uncomfortable selling the benefits of the process because they feel they may need to share their own experience. Forgetting that, whilst they know what happened, unless they say anything no one else ever will.

Of course I'm not going to be everyone's cup of tea, and in some of the instances when someone chooses not to put me in-front of  their colleagues, stakeholders or suppliers they're making the right decision.

However do please give me the benefit of the doubt because:

• What I do is grounded with the need to meet business needs. Laughter, fun and weirdness all have a place - so long as we're heading in the direction of unlocking the potential - so long as the end result will be someone being able to use potential that's been hidden. That is, there is definitely, as the saying goes, method to the madness. A lot of method, and a lot of thought. Similar to those swans you see making it look easy and effortless, and lots going on underneath. 
• I do flex my style - in coaching, facilitating and when training. That's what I teach others to do - to flex their style to increase understanding between others. It should go without saying therefore that I'm very good at using those skills myself. 
• Unconventional might feel uncomfortable to you but I've done it since I first started work - I'm comfortable with it, and am very good at positioning it with others. I'm great at allowing others to think it's weird, and to get them to give it a go anyway. To allow them to believe it won't work, and still try it. For allowing them, however they might be feeling and what ever the outcome might be, to be perfectly ok with that outcome.

Over the next month I'll be sharing examples of these unconventional tools applied to real life procurement issues to give an insight to how beneficial they can be - with hard not just soft benefits.

Alison Smith

The Purchasing Coach

Unlocking personal, procurement and organisational potential using unconventional tools.

That's just the way business is!

I started 2017 with an intention, or was it a plea, to ensure that Procurement didn't leave their humanity at the negotiation door. After attendance of a conference on mental health today I realise leaving humanity at the door is a challenge many in business face, not just procurement professionals.

The conference I attended was HeadTorch's #WorksMental in Glasgow. I was official tweeter sharing some of the snippets from the day, and connecting with other's from around the world also speaking about mental health whether at Davos, Westminster Palace's #Headstogether, or BellsLetsTalk over in Canada! (see the # link for more on the tweets shared).

The picture below shows us all celebrating our #mentalhealth, and acknowledging that it's something we all have, 100% of us, with NO exceptions. Acknowledging that just like physical health, mental health is something where we all have good days, great days, meh days and bad days. 

The challenge is whilst physical health is generally talked about and accepted in organisations, there's still a stigma associated with talking about mental health.

As I heard the stories of managers reactions to those with mental health difficulties today I was appalled and saddened. Bullying behaviour, disrespect, abusive language all being validated by the words "That's just the way business is"!

Interesting to consider of course that those business leaderships wouldn't feel the need to justify their behaviour if they thought it was acceptable.

With January 20th, and the presidential inauguration fast approaching, I'm also reminded of similar bullying responses that seem to suggest "That's just the way politics is" too! The same self interest, protectionism, bullying behaviour that justifies inhumane treatment has been seen there too.

I wish I could wave a magic wand and change the situation - but I can't - not over night anyway.

Here's where my thoughts are on WHAT WE CAN DO:

If "it's just the way business is" then it's like that because people acted without humanity and people accepted it. Over time we learnt that the values that drive our actions outside of work are certainly not the ones that can or should drive our actions at work! Somewhere along the lines we all started to believe the lie "That's just the way business is" and started to act from that belief. We accepted or turned a blind eye to those actions that, if undertaken in our personal lives, would have us disowning or walking away from the relationship.

I often get told I'm naive to expect business to operate differently. I also get told:

• You can't do that in business (about some of the unconventional tools I use) - when I do do that in business  
• You can't be honest to a supplier - when I get GREAT deals from suppliers by being honest
• You can't turn down work when you have no work just because it's unethical - when I did just that and survived to tell the tale, and didn't compromise my values as a result!

I also get told 

• You're different - you're not like the wolf like purchasers 
• It's a refreshing change for a purchaser to act like that

I'm not that different really - all I've done is not accept the belief that I have to leave my humanity at the door when I'm working.

Yes it is that simple.

Before you start with "But that won't work" or "If I do I'll get abused/harassed for it", please hear me out.

Firstly who is this "business" you're talking about - are you not a part of this entity called a business? And if so what are you doing to change your own actions to align with this better business we want to see in the world.

If you believe it won't work, and that's your reaction before you've tried doing it then you are still believing that business can not change - belief in the possible has to come first, otherwise change will never be possible.

I was the same over 11 years ago - I felt dis-empowered, bullied, and couldn't see that there was a different way for business to operate. Time and distance provides a perspective that says business can be all the positive things we want it to be - we just have to believe that it's possible.

It doesn't come, however, without making difficult decisions.

Just like the bullied wife, who can't see beyond the belief of her husband that she's worthless without him, and thus so far has stayed and put up with the bullying, disrespect, abusive language, self interest and protectionism, we each have a choice:

• Leave and find a relationship that enables us to take our humanity to work every day
• Have faith in the underlying humanity of the other person and work on the relationship, so it may grow into it's full potential 
• Continue to believe the lies that "that's just the way it is", and accept the consequences of that decision  

Together we can bring humanity back into business - we just have to believe it!

PS: Having just returned from hearing astronaut Colonel Chris Hadfield speak I've written a post "the sky is not the limit" where I end with the words:

"If humanity can do the impossible and go to the moon, humanity can certainly do the impossible and go into the board room." 

Alison Smith
The Purchasing Coach
Inspiring change inside and out

To provide more evidence of the possibility of taking our humanity to work I'm wanting to interview organisations where humanity is embraced in all of its daily actions, and especially procurement. I'm hoping that will include B Corporations, and that The Elders may also be able to point me in the right direction. Any suggestions of organisations to talk do please do get in touch +44(0)7770 538159 alison@alisonsmith.eu.

Attendance at other #worksmental conferences have had me writing the following posts:

• Let's talk about it - notes from January 2016 conference
• Are you a toxic leader - arising from an agenda item at Jan 2016 
• Is your head in the sand - about our contribution to others' mental health - because whether we like it or not we will be impacting others mental health - positively and negatively
• It's not about the toast - notes from May 2013 conference

And some posts aimed at Procurement professionals:

• How's your supplier's mental health
• Are your supplier's afraid to say no
• Is there room for kindness in procurement

Nudges in performance

I've just posted a blog over on LinkedIn entitled:

Nudging performance with Just In Time(JIT) and In The Moment (ITM) Interventions

It encourages us to proactively plan for the nudges rather than wait for them to happen - after all if it's anything like a recent Excel nudge in my performance I'd been doing it the long way round for years!

Alison Smith
The Purchasing Coach
Inspiring change - inside and out

Do you want Adaptive or Generative learning

I wrote a post last week on adaptive and generative learning and realise I should share links to blogs I've written for other organisations here too - for more info follow the links provided:

• Adaptive and generative learning.
• Are you settling for sub-optimal performance 
• How to start the day in the right way
• The secret to a great day's work 
• Communicating business requirements differently
• Processes that drive wrong behaviour
• Procurement's Sat Nav
• Business Requirements for suitcases
• Relationship forecasters
• Do procurement find it easy to be creative 
• Channel hoping stakeholders
• What would Paddington and Harry Potter do

There's also a post coming very soon that I wrote for HeadTorch on well being and mental health at work.

The blogs have not been duplicated here to keep the SEO police happy.

The Purchasing Coach: Services for 2017

Last week in my blog I explored the topics that make me tick - those topics that inspire my action (including the odd rant), and that are subjects that I share often in the procurement consultancy, speaking, training, facilitation and coaching (1:1 or 1:3) work that I do. They're also subjects that I have expertise in, enjoy, and that also make a difference when applied well.

Posts have covered the following topics (follow the hypertext link in the heading to the post I wrote on the subject):

• Procurement in large corporate organisations - because it's the environment I've worked in for over 30 years. (Did I really type that? Although more can be found about the journey of working for myself in my happy 10th anniversary blog written in March 2016.)

• Inspiring change - because effective change comes from motivated people. 

• Creativity and Innovation - because there's a law of diminishing returns, and if we keep doing what we've always done we get what we're always got! 

(The plate was made using Marianne Williamson's wonderful words - our deepest fear...)

• Soft skills - because if achieving your goals relies on working with other people soft skills are the fastest way of unlocking misunderstandings and achieving results.

• Language - because words have power, and we often unconsciously use words that promote failure and hinder success.  

• Use of unconventional tools - because the tools I use are particularly good at bypassing barriers or resistance to change. 

• Don't leave your humanity at the door - because I get frustrated when I hear people tell me that we have to leave our authentic selves/humanity at the office door, and instead apply rules that cause other people and the planet great distress. I believe taking our humanity to work with us is what being a B Corp is all about, and is something I'm going to be talking to B Corporations about during the year. (Post script links to two posts that explain more about this. My response to the excuse for the lack of humanity in business "that's just the way business is", and "the sky is not the limit" a reminder that nothing is impossible.) 

I trust that has given you a sense of who I am, why I do what I do, how I do it, and started to perhaps give you a sense of the impact it can have on the individuals and teams I work with.

Another means of finding out more about who I am, what I do and the results achieved can be found be reading 2016: My year in blogs which was written at the end of 2016.

Wishing you all a wonderfully creative and inspiring 2017, I do hope you'll get in touch to see how we may work together this year - directly or for your team or clients.

Alison Smith
The Purchasing Coach
Using unconventional tool to unlock the potential of procurement teams

To find out more about how I might be able help you or your team to inspire change in 2017 do call me on +44(0)7770 538159 or email alison@alisonsmith.eu. I look forward to hearing from you.

The Purchasing Coach: Inspiring Change

I expressed much of what I'd like to say about inspiring change in a blog last year - so I will let you read it there rather than get in trouble with the SEO police and duplicate it again.

I'll just leave you with some images from other blogs I've written to give a sense of what my passion for inspiring change is all about.

If we're resisting change through down right strength of character

or thinking the grass is greener (click image to find more of Leigh Rubin's work)

perhaps because we have our head in the sand

or we're even stuck in a rut

we may keep doing the same thing and expecting different results 

(please note: please turn down the volume before listening to this)

 or we might be feeling a little deflated 

or off colour

We need to be inspired to be the change we wish to see in the world

That inspiration can come from many different sources, and posts earlier in the week on language, soft skills, and unconventional tools, and tomorrow's on creativity and innovation can point to potential solutions. Solutions that result in

Stepping out of the rut,

turning a corner,

breaking out of the mould,

understanding other's points of view,

simply taking personal responsibility for our own actions,

knowing what we need to stop doing

or knowing where we're headed and where we are in relation to that

Where in your life do you need to be inspired to change, and what will you to today to achieve the motivation to take that action?

Alison Smith
The Purchasing Coach
Inspiring Change Inside and Out

This first week of 2017 I'm exploring the topics that make me tick - those topics that inspire my action (including the odd rant), and that are subjects that I share often in the procurement consultancy, speaking and coaching work that I do. They're also subjects that I have expertise in, enjoy, and that also make a difference when applied well.

Posts so far this week have covered:

• Don't leave your humanity at the door - because I get frustrated when I hear people tell me that we have to leave our authentic selves/humanity at the office door, and instead apply rules that cause other people and the planet great distress. I believe taking our humanity to work with us is what being a B Corp is all about, and is something I'm going to be talking to B Corporations about during the year. 
• Language - because words have power, and we often unconsciously use words that hinder us achieving our goals.  
• Soft skills - because if your goals rely on working with other people soft skills are the fastest way to achieving your goals
• Use of unconventional tools - because they're particularly good at bypassing barriers to change. 
• Inspiring change - as above

Topics to be covered over the weekend include:

• Procurement in large corporate organisations - because it's the environment I've worked in for over 30 years. 
• Creativity and Innovation - because there's a law of diminishing returns, and if we keep doing what we've always done we get what we're always got!  

Another means of finding out more about who I am, what I do and the results achieved can be found be reading 2016: My year in blogs which was written at the end of 2016.

Are you on automatic pilot?

I've written many times in the past about not getting stuck on autopilot, the need to step out of our comfort zone or even comfort universe, and breaking out of the mould.

I'm not sure I'd truly understood what that meant, or perhaps the benefit of sustaining these new behaviours until now.

As part of my 4 new habits in 28 day challenge I decided to do one thing differently every day. I've updated the blog I wrote at the time to show a list of what I did differently over those 28 days.

In this post I'd like to share the insights I got from undertaking this seemingly simple habit.

There's certainly something counter intuitive about setting a goal of doing something different everyday - as if trying to make the spontaneous less so. That said it's been truly transformative.

the rest of this post has moved to my new website.

In conclusion doing something different every day enabled me to face some habits that were long over due an upgrade.

What will you do differently today?

Alison Smith
The Purchasing Coach
Inspiring change - inside and out

More on the outcome of the 28 day challenge can be found here.

Hypertext links in the text above link to previous blogs on the subject

Day 23: 4 new habits in 28 days - if you keep doing what you've always done

As I reflected on the outcome of  'Doing something different' every for the last 23 days I was reminded of this landscaping your life vblog. You may want to turn your volume down before you have a listen.

Thinking about what to do differently everyday has brought into conscious awareness the habits I do - those habits where I may not even think about what to do I just do them as if by rote.

Habits such as:

• Sitting down to eat my evening meal and turning on the TV, and it then being on for the rest of the evening.
• Having a bath in the morning rather than a shower - irrespetctive of how much time I have. Allowing the bath to eat into my day despite what else I could be doing.
• Saying "No I'm ok with water" when asked if I want a tea/coffee mid way through a coaching session, and missing time out of the room to stretch my legs, and perhaps even a more comfortable watercooler/kettle conversation.
• Saying "No" to new things before I've considered if I would like to say "Yes" or the reason for my "No".

I'm sure there are others. 

What can you say "Yes" to today that you've been saying "No" to for too long despite getting an outcome you don't want? 

Alison Smith

The Purchasing Coach
Inspiring Change - Inside and Out

The 4 habits are:

1. I will consistently eat gluten free every day 21/23 (and nightshade (pots and toms) 20/23)
2. I will do my hip mobilisation every day 20/23
3. I will drink at least 2 litres of water every day 20/23
4. I will do at least one thing differently every day 21/23

The blog posts of the journey to embed 4 new habits in 28 days have so far included - finding the inspiration, vision and goal setting, setting targets, doing things differently, wavering, finding support, commitment, the danger of making assumptions, measuring progress, slaying the old habits and thoughts and, by use of the Frameworks for Change Coaching Process I use in coaching, being invited to be less perfect, and to be kinder to myself. I've also explored the situation using another coaching tool, soul collage cards, too - one using the interpretation of cards when I developed them, and one looking at them with fresh eyes.

Hypertext links in the text above link to previous blogs written on the subject.

#28daychallenge

Day 3: 4 new habits in 28 days - Doing something different

It does feel slightly counter intuitive to set the objective of making 'doing something different every day' a habit!

The reason for identifying 'doing something different' as a habit I'd like to work on, is that the more I use the 'doing something different' muscle, the more open I will be to change and new opportunities. 

Habits are mostly unconscious that's why we have them - because we don't need to give any conscious energy to doing them. I pick up my toothbrush in my right hand, and there's no energy needed to think about doing it - it's a routine I follow that's become automatic.

The problem arises when everything we do is a habit - as soon as someone suggests doing something different we freak out. Our brain goes into overload at the very thought of doing something a different way. After all, isn't the reason we have a habit, because we've already thought about the best, most effective, cheapest, easiest, most efficient way to do it, and are doing it that way?

The issue is, that over time things change - we change, our goals change, those around us change, the world changes. What was right even a few months ago might not be right now. Or perhaps it was never right, but it was just an easier habit to fall into than the alternative.

For example, I'm still one for going to London and hailing a cab, and yet cheaper options exist if I could release this habit and explore using Uber. Fear of the unknown is stopping me. 

Fear can be a great motivator for keeping the status quo. 

This is where 'doing things differently' comes in - we can teach fear not to react to these new situations as it has in the past. We can teach ourselves that the world doesn't stop going around if we try something new. 

These activities don't have to be something big - just small things every day that expand our comfort zone.

The rest of this post  has now been moved to my new website

Recurring Patterns

A lot of the work I do is about understanding patterns - whether patterns in spend data, patterns in supplier relationships or patterns in our lives.

Yesterday was no different, and started with this tweet from Terry W. Virts on the International Space Station:

Tweets then continued on the theme of patterns - those in nature and in life.

The day concluded with an interesting coaching session, and I share the under lying pattern here (with full and kind permission of the coachee).

The current chapter of the book I'm writing is about the repeating the patterns in our lives. The ones where you say "Not THIS again!", and then, only a few months later, seem to fall into the same pattern and realise here you are AGAIN!

When repeating patterns in our lives it's really easy to get hooked into the 'content' of the pattern. That is we prefer to believe that the other person or organisation is responsible for how we're feeling rather than us being responsible. So you might hear:

• "I know he is the 5th so 'n' so I've dated but did you hear what he said to me?" Rather than say "Why have I, yet again, found myself staying with a G!t." or
• "I know this is the 4th job I've had where they've taken advantage of me - but they really do need to get this manager sorted!" Rather than say "Why have I, yet again, ended up with a job where I'm allowing myself to be bullied"or    
• "I know this is the 6th job where I've repeatedly worked late but they really do need to stop giving me so much work - it's not fair." Rather than say "I wonder why I can't stop work at a reasonable hour?" or
• "I know this is the 7th friend who has taken advantage of me, and did you see what he said about me on Facebook?" Rather than "I wonder why I can't say "no" more often to others?"
• And so on.

The clue is the repetitiveness of the pattern - ie the only common denominator in this pattern is us. The question to be answered is therefore - how are we contributing to the situation? 

Please note - I'm NOT saying we're to blame for the bullying. I'm simply saying we're responsible for not walking away - again. 

Solutions to releasing the patterns above might be found by building self esteem, confidence or assertiveness skills. Sometimes the solution can be found in the past when we learnt the pattern (ie a behaviour might have worked when were 7 years old. We therefore keep repeating it believing it still to be a great strategy). Other times it's a bit like we're enjoying the hamster wheel of repetitions and don't really want to stop (example here when adrenaline is fuelling the repeated pattern). 

Last night my client was in full swing complaining about the other person - despite this being the nth situation just like it - just involving other people. After a little while I realised the solution in this situation might be found with another pattern.

A majority of the time we judge and get angry about others due to one of our values being compromised. (See the blog on values to understand how and why this happens. It helps explain why not everyone gets frustrated at the same behaviour.)

A small minority of the time we get angry or frustrated because a part of us wants to be more like the other person (bare with me - it will make sense).

For example viewed from both these viewpoints someone's selfish behaviour might illicit anger because:

• From a value of fairness: "it's not fair"
• From someone who is not selfish at all: "why can't I be more like that"

The problem is - if asked - the last thing you think you want to be is more like them. Which is why it's easier to stick with pointing the figure at the unacceptable behaviour and other person rather than your reaction to it.

This is what was happening last night.

Obviously when I said "I wonder if you want to be more like them" I was met with a resounding "Are you mad!"

I persevered (I'm good at that!). Believing it to be about them needing to be more selfish, and to put their needs on at least an even footing with others, I used a metaphor, and asked her to imagine the needs of other people to be in boxes.

We soon had an imaginary room full of different boxes of different sizes, shapes and colours representing the other people in her life.

I then asked her for the size, shape and colour of her own box.

I also asked her to imagine how other people she admired might imagine their own box to be like.

The answer she gave enabled us both to understand how she might need to be a little more selfish.

Suffice it to say this week's homeplay is for her to imagine her own box - to perhaps even get one in reality, and to bring it into the forefront of her mind and to play about with the representation. To explore what might help the imagined box (representing her needs) to have an appropriate relationship to the other boxes.

To notice what she noticed as she did this. To notice perhaps how, as she played with the box, her relationship with the other person changed (ie how the repeated pattern changed).

Too soon for news on progress, but a great example of how recurring patterns can be explored using the internal metaphor we're using to represent the situation.

What recurring patterns might you want to release? What benefit would releasing it have on your life, and what step do you need to take to achieve that?

Alison Smith
Inspiring change inside and out

Previous blogs using nature to explore our less than helpful patterns have included:

• Incomplete patterns
• Are the patterns that drive your behaviour helpful
• How's the weather with you

More on the coaching I offer can be found here or call me on +44 (0)7770 538159 or email alison@alisonsmith.eu

Have you reached a Choice Point in your life?

A labour of love over the weekend pulling together a board of pins that reflected the learning from my attendance at the preview of the Choice Point film with reference to the book written by Harry Massey & David R Hamilton.

There's a great mix of insights from the famous (Richard Brason) to not so famous (Alison Pothier and Brett Moran) and from all around the globe.

It's about many things that resonate with me: being the change, interconnectedness, aligning our purpose, making a difference, listening to our own inner wisdom. The title comes from a quote by Gregg Braden.

"Each time the cycle comes to an end it opens a window of opportunity called a Choice Point" 

The three steps highlighted in both the movie and the book are:

1: Understand your World

Which includes the patterns in our lives that are reflected in nature - observe the trends: the highs, the lows and ups and downs. It's only by understanding the patterns that we can flow with, not against, the river of opportunity. 

2: Align your Purpose

What are you good at, enjoy and have a passion for and how can that be aligned with what is already happening in the world?

3: Be the Change

No use waiting for others - if you want the world to change then you have to change and be the inspiration for others. Even if we only impact one person - that's great - because how can we know the ripples that will spread from that.

More can be found here on the Choice Point Web site and Facebook page. And for those with visual preferences through viewing my Pinterest board.

Alison Smith
The Purchasing Coach
Sowing the seeds for change in Purchasing

Choice Point picture Source: christianreadsquran.wordpress.com via Alison on Pinterest