You're Asking the Wrong Question

During a conversation last week, I was asked about best practices for Procurement technology implementations. While in this particular case the question was appropriate, it reminded me that this can often be a bad question…

For example: “Hey what’s the best practice for sourcing cactus removal services for a project we have in the Mojave desert?”

Tonight, I walk you through how you should think about best practices in the context of Procurement and Procurement tech initiatives.

Have a great week ahead.

Best,

Joël

Best Practices on Best Practices Thinking 😅

“What’s the best practice for X?”

While this question can be useful, it can also cause more harm than good… What do I mean by that?

To start, let’s quickly define Best Practice to ensure we’re on the same page…

In short, the “best way” to solve a problem or reach a specific objective. Beautiful.

But wait…

I would argue that in Procurement and Procurement technology, the “best way” to solve a problem is highly contextual to the organization in which the problem is being observed. All organizations, even in the same industry, have different:

• Company values, missions and visions

• Competitive advantage levers

• Cultural realities

• Staffing levels

• Employee skill levels

• Systems configurations and interface setups

• Etc.

So, if every organization’s context is different, what is the value of best practices as defined? To find out, we need to uncover the “real ask” behind the question… Typically, the person asking about best practices is really asking: “Is there a shortcut we can take here?” Aha! This changes how to best answer this question.

Shortcuts are definitely available in Procurement and Procurement technology. At a high level, the Procurement process and sub-processes are the same from organization to organization. For example, in a Third-Party Risk Management (TPRM) process, the same basic lifecycle applies everywhere (onboarding, qualification, risk evaluation, mitigation plan, ongoing monitoring and eventual offboarding). However, the specifics of this lifecycle need to be adapted to the context of your organization (e.g., industry, risk tolerance, resources, etc.). Therefore, we should conclude that “best practices” can be applied at the strategic level to craft a way forward. They are a way to “catch up” on a topic where there are already frameworks and tested ideas available for use.

However, when we start evaluating the tactical and operational activities that need to occur as part of a Procurement process (or be supported by Procurement technology), that’s when the influence and relevance of best practices starts to fade. To keep going with the TPRM example, if you are contracting a supplier for an obscure service in a remote location (e.g., contortionists available around the Black Rock Desert for a Burning Man performance…), well there’s no ‘best practice’ for managing that risk…

It seems self evident when I put it like that but we often fall into the trap of seeking shortcuts where we have no business seeking shortcuts… When we ask our teams for ‘best practices’ for unique tactical and operational issues, we are sending them on a wild goose chase… We are essentially asking them to “find the existing answer to this problem.” And it doesn’t exist!

Here are 4 questions that yield much better outcomes for operational, context-specific problems that need solving:

1. If you could only spend 1 day on this problem to fix it, what would you do?

   1. This is to uncover the essential components of the problem. To do away with the fluff.

2. What would the solution look like if it were easy?

   1. Identifies the variables of the problem that introduce complexity. If you can remove or change these, the problem becomes simpler.

3. Can we remove a variable (substract) to simplify the problem to be solved?

   1. Variation on question #2.

4. Can I reframe the problem to find a different approach? Are we solving the right problem?

   1. Changing how the team views a problem can greatly simplify the solution as well. Example: Is the elevator slow? Or is the wait time perceived as too long? Should we install faster elevators or work on perceptions of the wait time?

As you coach teams going forward, I challenge you to figure out what type of problem you are facing (strategic, tactical or operational). This should help you determine if the problem requires a “best practice” approach or if you should be helping your team find novel solutions adapted to your specific context.

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