Is Asking How Do We Get a Seat at the Table the Wrong Question?

Let's start off today with a fun little exercise.  Not the kind of exercise that I hate doing every morning of a physical nature, but one of the mind. (Sigh of relief.)  All you need is a blank piece of paper and a writing utensil.  First, draw a a vessel that holds flowers.  Now, flip over the page and draw how flowers can add beauty to your home.

What is the difference between your two pictures?  The first one might be a vase holding some flowers.  It might be beautiful, but it what purpose is it serving?  What value is it adding?  In the second picture, you might look at it and actually get a sense of joy.  You might think of people in your past who loved flowers.  You might want to go to the farmer's market today and buy some flowers.

If you think of the questions above, they are very similar to how we tend to ask questions.  Most of the time, we are focused, and at times stuck, on the solving the immediate need - providing the product or service.  This happens in design sessions, as an example, for Procurement technology implementations where there is a focus on delivering the technology, but might not be focused on the experience or adding value to the customer.  We are, at times, focused on the vase.

So, you might be thinking, what does this have to do with getting a seat at the table.  If you do the exercise above again asking two questions - "how go I get a seat at the table?" being the first and "how can I provide business solutions to my company?" - you get two very different pictures, don't you?

Think about how framing a question correctly can drastically change your outcomes.  For, none of your customers care if you have a seat at the table.  That seat does not change their world, help them solve their problems, does not add to their strategies.  They care about the business solutions you are providing or aren't providing in some cases.

Framing questions differently can not only change outcomes, but it will change what skill sets you, and your teams, need to be successful.  It will  change the role of Procurement in the company - as long as you act on your newly framed questions.

For those unicorns how are really interested in learning more about this topic, I highly suggest reading, "Think Like a Freak", by Stephen J. Duber and Steven Levitt.  It is not a Procurement book (again, sign of relief), but the third book in a series with a mind blowing amount of examples about asking the right questions and getting transformative, break through results.

So, this week, let's be awkward.  Let's stick out from the crowd of lemmings who are following the the mantras.  Let's think of the toughest issues we are trying to solve and challenge ourselves to ask the questions through a different lens. Get out of the normal and challenge what has not been challenged.

We Love Not Having a Seat at the Table

Given this is my first post, it needs to be said that I have no idea what I am doing.  I have never created a webpage before, don't know HTML to make this look pretty, but I am doing this anyway. The reason - is that I am tired of being stuck and seeing a whole profession in the same position.

For decades, we have been asking the same questions within the Procurement profession.

"Why can't we get a seat at the table?"
"How do we get more spend under management?"
"How do I get access to better data and insights?"
"How do we deal with the millennials?"

Every conference, most every blog and article - it is like we are on a constant rinse and repeat cycle.

Now, there are those rare unicorns.  Those who are unthinking Procurement, forging their own path and creating success.  But, when those unicorns are regarded as myths or legends, it is proving that most of the profession is stuck.

Therefore, on these Saturday morning posts, I will be exploring how to get Procurement Unstuck.

As being stuck is not where we want to be - or is it?  My challenge to you is that I think the vast majority of us like being stuck.  We like the comfort in the regular routine, what is known.  We like the comfort in asking the same questions just to know we have a common connection.  In fact, at a recent conference, something strange occurred.  There was an outsider.  Someone who was new to the profession, but not to his career; He was not educated in the way "we" do things.  Believe it or not, he was challenging the line of questioning and the solutions being provided by the speakers in an effort to learn and discuss.  AND HE WAS REVILED.  There were darting looks, eye rolls, murmurs.

So, which person are you?  For the ideas shared here will need to be actioned by eager, unicorns.  Those who are willing to shout from the mountain tops that enough is enough.  Those who are willing to think differently, frame the questions differently, teach and mentor others to do the same.  Someone who for awhile might be the only voice speaking up that will need to take the murmurs as another stripe on their way to something revolutionary.