Archive
more on myths and panacea solutions
Last week I gave my thoughts on the myths around centralised procurement. I picked that activity just because it had been in the media in the preceding days, but it was just one example of panacea solutions. Read more…
business cycles are a just a natural progression
I wrote some lines a few weeks ago about the classic business cycle whereby today’s fad is tomorrow’s derided practice and next year’s next big thing, albeit that in the latter case it will be re-branded to make it new and exciting even if it is pretty much exactly what we used to do. What goes around comes around as my American friends say. Having been asked the same question again last week gives me chance to expand on this a little. Read more…
let’s get rid of the unlimited liability clause
The purpose of contract documents is to set out in as an unambiguous manner as possible the intentions of the parties involved. Clarity should be of the essence, but so many contracts are drafted by lawyers these days are not only impenetrable as to their meaning, but also often contain clauses that make little practical sense. Read more…
paying late doesn’t make good business sense
News last week that one of the suppliers to a global construction giant had elected not to accept any more work from that source because of delays in getting paid should sound warning bells to over aggressive procurement functions. Whilst the news may not have told the full story it is clear that there are moves to stretch payment terms and that many of these are beyond what is reasonable under the circumstances. Read more…
let’s stop using power words in CVs and bid documents
Last week I got involved in a cyber-debate about the overuse of power words, in this case about their use in CVs, but the principle applies more widely. I have two main issues with this abuse of language; firstly that much of it is transparently nonsense (and therefore untrue) and secondly that it wastes my time. Read more…
how hard is it to deliver decent customer service?
Back to customer service this week and a trio of unrelated incidents that have got me thinking about this again. Read more…
learning from crisis management
Last month our fridge-freezer had a glitch just as we hit that warm spell. The fridge wasn’t cool enough and the freezer stopped freezing. The auto-defrost had iced up and we had to write off some of the contents, but I found a cure and we got it working again, and over the weeks since some weekly maintenance had kept it working well. Read more…
what’s the connection between the Mona Lisa and an FM?
I had been looking at a copy of the Mona Lisa and then the next day a conversation with a facilities manager then started this train of thought off.
The Mona Lisa contains a number of visual gags and one of the joys of looking at it is to spot these details, but any good painting, or photograph, or view will have all sorts of details that make up the whole visual experience. Just as it is nice to stop and smell the roses from time to time it is also good to let the eyes wander over something and feast on the smaller elements that you’ll find. Even something familiar can yield new things when you stand back and look. Read more…
chuck out your KPIs and measure real performance
Something that crops up constantly in the line of business that I am in is measurement of performance; often it is as simple as “Did we get what we ordered?” not least in terms of my clients being satisfied with me, but it is also about service contracts where delivery can get harder to pin down. I am in the process of writing a short eBook on the subject, so let me share some of my thinking here. Read more…
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the Monday Musings column from that consultant bloke 