Dear Procurement

Dear Procurement,

The Dear Organisation, With love from Procurement letter written to organisations around the world, to open up the dialogue with us, was heartfelt. 

The perception of many about our profession, and the value we can add is woefully inaccurate. 

BUT, 

and there is a big huge BUT, 

The perception others have of us is actually up to us, or is it down to us? Either way, we're responsible for the reaction we generate in others. 

If people view us as penny pinchers, it's because that's what they see us doing. 

If people view us solely as the bad cop, it's because that’s who we are when we’re with them - day in, day out. 

If people come to us to only fight their fires, we’ve obviously only told them to ring 999 in an emergency, and not provided 101 or any other alternate numbers they need for other situations where our skills could be used. 

If they don't give us time to do our job properly - why did we not know about it sooner? Proaction or reaction is a choice we make every day. Reaction will always have us on the back foot. 

Until Procurement stop moaning and blaming others, and start taking personal responsibility for the perception of us by others nothing will change. Yesterday’s letter was one of the many things I'm doing to change the conversation - what action have or will you take today?

Life gets in the way

If you find yourself saying "life gets in the way" when talking about achieving your goals you may want to pop over to my Landscaping Your Life blog and have a read of a post helping you to unravel your personal relationship to those words.

Will it be a bright 2018?

Happy New Year.

I wonder, are you envisaging a 2018 that's like one of these images?

or more like this? 

And more importantly is it working for you? If it is, read no further. If you know your relationship with 2018 could do with a little tweak or two then see if the following might help nudge you in the right direction.

Is it a representation that will help you achieve your goals this year? or will it help you to find the motivation to set some goals? or more of what ever it is you feel might me lacking at the moment?

As you consider your representation, what happens if you make changes to it - does 2018 feel, look or sound more or less as you would like it to be?

You may want to make your image of 2018 bigger, smaller, add or take away colour, give it some movement, move it, add a sound track, take a picture of it, change the focus, or draw it. Basically, any change or changes that make 2018 the year you'd like it to be, if of course it isn't already.

The image that represents 2018 for you might not be a number, it might be another image all together. If a landscape comes to mind you might want to pop over to my Landscaping Your Life blog for more about what changes you might want to make to the landscape.

You may not have an image for 2018 at all - it may be a feeling or a sound. The aim is to ensure that what ever your representation is for 2018 that it supports what you want to do in 2018, and not hinders it. 

The following images my help provide some clues about what changes could be made.

What about a theme tune for 2018?

or even a dance?

There is no right or wrong - just what ever comes to mind. You may want to make a collage? A model? or even bake a cake. 

Exploring the representation we have for aspects of our lives is one of the unconventional tools I decided to save for this first post of 2018. Many of the other tools I use in my coaching and facilitation had a festive feel applied to them in my advent series of posts at the end of last year. It's certainly one of my go to tools when someone is wanting to shift a current situation.

What changes might you want to make to 2018, and when will you make them?

Alison Smith
The Purchasing Coach
Inspiring Change in 2018