Your Way Is Not The Right Way

Do you think you’ve figured out the right way to report savings, the right way to run an RFP, the right way to engage with stakeholders, the right way to enforce Procurement policy?   You haven’t, because there is no single right way.   

For all those things, there are an infinite number of wrong ways, and no one right way.  What works for you, in your situation, at this moment in time, will likely not work as well for you a year from now, or at your next job. What works so well for you, in your industry, at a company your size, at whatever stage of growth, probably won’t work as well somewhere else.

And even if you think you’ve figured it all out for your situation, if everything is running like clockwork and you’re exceeding all expectations, don’t get too comfortable. There is no finish line. There is almost certainly someone out there who has a better way.  Someone from a different industry, from a bigger company (or a smaller one), someone with more experience (or less), someone who has looked at the problem differently and come up with a better way. Keep that in mind when you are building your team.

Perhaps the most important trait I look for when hiring someone is a curious mind.  Look not just to find what works, but to understand why it works.  What are the variables, the levers, the drivers that make it work.  Be simultaneously open to new ideas, and skeptical of them, and always question if your way is the right way.