Episode 2: "Execution and Effectiveness"

There are lots of things that can go sideways during a deal to drive down value creation and if you aren't focused on stakeholder engagement you are leaving opportunities on the table. I am passionate about changing this for our function. we do a great job of focusing on the outcomes but do we truly know if we maximized the opportunity to create value for our business.

Joe Agresta used to gift colleagues a book about the importance execution and moving beyond theoretical opportunities to the heavy lifting. This stayed with me. In procurement I believe the execution of our source-to-contract activities should have an effectiveness measure related to the process, not just the outcomes.

We are good at measuring savings, but are we as good at measuring our execution? Do we know if we are meeting stakeholders’ needs when it come to timeliness, robustness, and responsiveness? We shouldn't be just checking the steps of a 7-step process but seeking to understand if we attained the optimal value for our business partners and made meaningful trades that the stakeholders valued.