With all due respect to the fans of the Champions League and the IPL; and sincere apologies to the fans of this World Cup and that one; and an acknowledgement to the fans of the great bikers and drivers and drivers and runners, swimmers, and divers; and a nod to the fans of athletes that are big and short and small and tough and foolish; to all of the basketball, baseball, golf, tennis, skiing, skating, and hockey fans and those of amateur athletics I appreciate you too, but…………………. and I’ll say it just once, while the other sports have their great athletes, teams, games, rivalries, traditions, etc.:

American Football is the best professional sport and the NFL is the best professional sports league, bar none.

For the past two and next twenty Sundays, NFL teams will meet weekly until the Super Bowl champion is crowned on February 6 in Dallas. Today and for the next 20 Mondays, sports reporters, commentators, and fans alike will wake up on Monday and call, post, email, and voice their opinions on all aspects of the games played the day before in an exercise that is commonly called playing “Monday Morning Quarterback.” It is a great sports pastime and a huge cottage industry. The debates or conversations are often informative and entertaining and they can sometimes get heated, but the best part is that anyone with an opinion can chime in.

In a similar vein, today, Monday, we’re kicking off our “Monday Morning Query” series where we will pose a question to our readership that has been gnawing at us or is something that we feel is worthy of reflection. Perhaps the debates or conversations will get heated; we hope they are informative and entertaining. Most of all, if you have an opinion, please chime in.

First up: eSourcing. (Besides being a favorite topic of mine, I happen to be working concurrently on an eSourcing research project, an eSourcing solution selection project, and an eSourcing program diagnostic (custom evaluation of a global eSourcing program) so it is top of mind.)

Monday Morning Query: What makes an eSourcing expert?

The Context:

• How many eSourcing events do you need to manage before becoming an expert? My recent interviews with new users of eSourcing clearly show that new users initially see eSourcing as more work, not less. What has to happen to change that?
• They often say that someone who learns a new language is not really bilingual until they dream in that new language – At what point does a sourcing professional start a brand new RFx document using the excel template for an eSourcing tool instead of a word document?
• For the eSourcing experts, how many events did it take you to become competent? How many events did it take you to become an expert? What were the main factors that helped you develop your expertise?

Down, Set, Reply!

Tagged in: Monday Morning Query, Sourcing, Technology