Don't cut corners unless its safe to do so

On the road if you cut corners you might get away with it. Sooner or later, however, there will be another vehicle on the same part of the road as you. In other words an accident is assured at some point.

I'm not saying I don't cut corners. There's a lovely bit of road between Grantown on spay and Forres near Inverness in Scotland that twists and turns. It's a gorgeous piece of flat moorland and there's complete visibility of the road ahead. Which means I can cut corners to smooth my journey, maintain my speed whilst being safe, and yet know with confidence that I won't meet other vehicles. Yet when driving the same road at night the ability to do that disappears. 

When training or coaching on category management I can hear myself 15 years ago when delegates say "it's too much" "I don't need a process" "that doesn't apply to my category" "I know that already". They're sitting there, as I did then, believing that cutting corners is the way to go every time.

What I've learnt in the intervening 15 years is that when I rigorously apply best practice tools and techniques to a category, in other words when I've not cut corners, I've delivered the most innovative value unlocking category strategy. 

I'm a control freak and hate being told what to do. I want the flexibility to go with the flow, be spontaneous and be able to react to what's happening. In the past I'd assumed that rigorous application of best practice tools and techniques would mean I'd have to give all this up. I now realise I don't. I can have my cake and eat it. 

What I realise is that the process, those tools and templates are guides only. A checklist if you will of what I need to be thinking about. A checklist I need to apply intelligently to the category, organisation, country, supply market and suppliers in hand. 

Of course I won't spend months gathering the data if spend, market complexity and risk is low. Of course I won't do something because it's in the process if it doesn't apply. Of course I won't complete that template in PowerPoint if the information is already conveyed elsewhere in Excel. 

What I will do is rigourously consider each part of the process. If I choose to cut a corner I'll have decided, as I do on the road near Forres, that it's safe to do so. I'll have decided that at this time, with these road conditions, in this weather, today, in this vehicle, with me driving, with the other road users, it's ok to cut the corner. Its okay to miss something out. The decision, however, may change the next time I need to make it. 

For me having a checklist ensures I don't cut corners without knowing it. It also means I deliver more value to the organisation - which can only be good? Even if once in a while I can hear the old Alison muttering about it.

Before you next cut any corners please make sure it's safe to do so.

Alison Smith

Inspiring change inside and out

To find out more how I can unlock value in your organisation please do get in touch alison@thepurchasingcoach.co.uk  +44(0)7770 538159

Integrative Business Solutions

Wouldn't it be great if there was just one definitive answer to every problem or challenge in life? Just think how much easier it would all be.

The first challenge, however, is there isn't one solution - there's many solutions. Also the solution that works for one person, team or business wont necessarily work for another and vice verse. I'd also suggest that what solution works for them today won't necessarily work in a month's time. The key, therefore, has to be how to access the right solution for that situation and for today.

Find someone who knows - ask them - is often one of the things we try. Yet having spoken to a handful and more of 'specialists' about my knee I realise that what we get is what their specialist area would proclaim to be the solution. The solutions offered for my painful, troublesome, inflexible and apparently arthritic knee have included:

• a new knee
• a realigned knee
• injections in the knee
• pain killers
• weight loss
• special shoes
• insoles
• specific exercises
• cutting out certain foods - e.g. wheat
• eating more of other foods
• digestive enzymes
• herbs
• releasing the fear
• being me

No one 'specialist' was able to offer all these potential solutions - I had to ask questions of many specialists and assimilate my own list of potential solutions. My arthritis Pinterest board is a testament to how many different solutions there are to consider.

With my knee I'd suggest the answer lies in a number of these:

The pain killers work in the short term and enable me to exercise the knee to strengthen the muscles that have become weakened with pain. These strengthened muscles can then be trained to work more effectively by more and yet different exercises using those specialist shoes to take the weight away from the grinding bones whilst doing so. Weight loss will help that too. Taking potentially inflammatory foods out of the diet and putting more anti inflammatory ones in will help the body to heal that area more easily. The digestive enzymes will help me digest the food more easily to ensure the minerals I digest are available for use in the repair of my knees. Releasing the fear and being me will stop my constant doing and tightening of the muscles that stop the knee doing what knees do. When the digestive system is working more effectively the foods I took out or foods, herbs and enzymes put in will need to be revised. So too the exercise regime needed to continue to allow the knee to strengthen and repair. All solutions working together to avoid the dreaded solution of a new knee! All solutions working together so that I may continue to be Auntie Alison who cartwheels and jumps on the trampoline not one in the corner watching it all going on around her!

Isn't it the same in business? Short term fixes will only work if more long term solutions are implemented to ensure more healthy systems, processes, procedures and ways of working are utilised and embraced. A new process wont work if it's not aligned with the values of the business or beliefs continue to be held that "it's not how things are done around here." Success will be tantalisingly out of reach without communication and engagement with internal and/or external stakeholders. Not forgetting the impact a healthy environment, both within and outside of work, will have on the individuals making the changes.

With both examples the journey has many twists and turns. Solutions used in the early days fall away as the conditions for new solutions to be tried arise. It requires a constant assessment of the impact of the ripples arising from the actions - with new and different solutions used to tweak and gently bring the person, team, project or business back into healthy alignment with their goals.

What do you need to change to ensure you embrace a more integrative approach to finding solutions to your problems? Me - I'll be writing more blogs on this subject over coming weeks.

Alison Smith
The Purchasing Coach
Sowing the seeds for integrative solutions for purchasing

Ripples in the water picture source: mindbodycounseling.com via Alison on Pinterest