In ten years’ time, the procurement profession and the role of the Chief Procurement Officer (CPO) has changed in many unique and profound ways. Yet, just like 2010, CPOs and other procurement leaders are entering the new decade grappling with intense challenges (some old, some new) and driving forward to achieve aggressive goals and objectives.
On that front, I’m pleased to continue with our exciting, new series on CPO Rising – “20 for 2020” which examines a broad range of CPO-driven topics. Today we continue with 20 for 2020: Key Themes for the Modern CPO’s Agenda (#16 – Uncertainty), which is designed to help procurement set their organizations’ course for the critical months and years ahead. Enjoy!
20-for-2020: Theme #16 for the Modern CPO’s Agenda: Uncertainty
Beyond disruption, supply chain risk, and sustainability, 2020 has got to be the year of uncertainty. In life, in business, in sports, in politics, in public health, in international affairs — everything seems to be uncertain. There’s no getting away from it or around it.
Will the next recession finally hit in 2020? How bad is it going to be? Will we all lose our jobs?
Will my family and I get sick from Coronavirus? How bad could it be? Will it cause the next recession?
Who’s going to win the Democratic presidential nomination? Who’s going to win the General election?
Will Russia successfully interfere in the US elections again? What will that look like, and will voters recognize it?
Will tensions boil over again between the US and Iran? Will North Korea renew its provocations?
Will the UK and the EU come to a post-Brexit economic and commercial agreement?
Is eating animal products really all that bad? Can’t we moderate? Or do we all have to become vegan?
Will Tom Brady leave the New England Patriots to play for another team? Would we ever trust again?
Clearly, there is a lot on the minds of business leaders, the average American citizen, and ardent Pats fans. If you stop for a moment and think about all the known unknowns out there, you might start to regret that third cup of coffee (like I occasionally do). But if stress and anxiety have taught me anything, it’s that contingency planning (i.e., planning for the known unknown scenarios) can be a sublime and effective way to channel nervous energy into something potentially useful. Here are five ways to do that.
- Get out of your head: To face uncertainty effectively, it helps to get out of your own head, put it down on paper, and then talk it through with smart people. People who have experience with some of these contingencies. They can tell you with a great deal of confidence whether these are truly worrisome scenarios or just noise.
- “Listen” to the data: Following your gut can be a dangerous and fruitless exercise. Let it inform your thinking, but don’t act solely on it. Leverage high-quality data to draw your company’s probability/ impact matrix; figure out what’s low probability but high impact, high probability but low impact, and everything in between.
- Assess your team’s capabilities, strengths, and weaknesses: What do you need to do to mitigate or prevent these impacts? Do you possess the capabilities now, or do you need to acquire them somehow? Is it better data, more talented people, more robust systems? Identify these strengths and weaknesses now…while there is time to act.
- Face the facts: It’s far too easy to assume that you and your team are capable of handling issues as they come up. “We’ll worry about it then.” “I’ll figure something out.” “Don’t worry, it’ll all work out.” These platitudes sound nice and are vaguely reassuring. But they’re not doing you or your team any favors. It’s best to be honest with yourself and your team, because the truth will come out eventually on how prepared or unprepared you are.
- Ask for help. Collaborate: Probably very few people — in business and in life — can solve complex or overwhelming problems by themselves. Thus, the best risk (or crisis) management teams are often interdisciplinary — they are comprised of people from different parts of the business who bring diverse expertise, skill sets, and individual experiences. They have perspectives that you don’t, and they can see things you don’t; they see dangers and opportunities from a different angle or in a different light. Diverse perspectives and skill sets can make a difference in overcoming complex or seemingly insurmountable challenges.
Final Thoughts
The English Wesleyan minister, William Lonsdale Watkinson, once wrote, “Yet is it far better to light the candle than to curse the darkness.” Look, I get it. We’re living in extremely uncertain times, and this uncertainty can impact our work and personal lives. But rather than engage in perseverant doom-and-gloom thinking, a more productive and strategic approach is to plan for the worst while striving for the best possible outcomes. Anything less is to succumb to the night.
RELATED ARTICLES
20 for 2020: The Key Themes for the Modern CPO’s Agenda (#6 – Disruption)
20 for 2020: The Key Themes for the Modern CPO’s Agenda (#11 – Supply Chain Risk Management)
20 for 2020: The Key Themes for the Modern CPO’s Agenda (#15 – Sustainability)
