Enhance Your Procurement Skills

Using Critical Thinking, Steelman, and Epistemology as the foundation for your success in Procurement

Hey, Procurement Legends,

Thanks again for taking the time out of your day to read this Newsletter. We’re getting extremely close to reaching 1000 newsletter subscribers so please share this if you found it helpful with your colleagues.

If you’re a current subscriber, consider upgrading your membership to a paid one for the price of a coffee (each month). Our next paid-only read will be about the “Steelman” approach I’ve implemented into my everyday life since listening to Lex Fridman. You can upgrade by clicking below (upgrade).

How to Enhance Your Procurement Skills

Critical Thinking in Procurement

Critical thinking is essential for procurement professionals, enabling them to make well-informed decisions, solve problems, and evaluate vendor offerings effectively.

By applying critical thinking, procurement teams can better identify potential risks, opportunities, and areas for improvement, leading to more strategic and cost-effective outcomes for their organizations. I took an additional A-Level in critical thinking, which wonderfully complimented my legal studies at College and University.

Steelman: A Powerful Communication Tool

Steelmanning is a valuable technique that involves presenting an opposing argument in its strongest possible form before engaging in a discussion or debate.

By adopting the steelmanning approach, procurement professionals can foster empathy, improve their negotiation skills, and build stronger relationships with vendors and stakeholders.

This method promotes intellectual honesty and collaborative decision-making, ensuring that opposing viewpoints are accurately represented and reasonably considered.

Epistemology: The Importance of Understanding How We Know from Success and Failure

Epistemology, the study of knowledge and how we acquire it, is essential to critical thinking and effective decision-making in procurement.

By understanding the sources and limitations of their knowledge, procurement professionals can more accurately assess the reliability and validity of the information they gather.

This awareness helps them make better-informed decisions, mitigate risks, and adapt to evolving market conditions and organizational needs. Embracing epistemology in procurement encourages continuous learning and growth, allowing professionals to stay ahead in a rapidly changing business landscape (which is why we should all pursue Personal Knowledge Management in our lives).

Personal Knowledge Management for Procurement Professionals

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3 Pieces of Content You Might Find Useful

TSMC Founder: “In the Chip Sector, Globalization Is Dead.”

I’ve been nerding out on semiconductors (or chips) recently as part of some ongoing research. This quote from the article/conversation says it all:

“You cannot understand the modern world without putting semiconductors at the center of your analysis, and you cannot understand the semiconductor industry without putting TSMC at the center of the story.”

Procurement Organisation and Structure – Why It Matters for CPOs

The key to designing an appropriate procurement structure is therefore to make sure it is aligned to the wider organisational strategy, culture and goals

I’ll be creating an in-depth piece on Procurement Org Structures for paid subscribers soon.

What is Skimpflation?

Skimpflation is the hotel that no longer offers daily housekeeping, or the restaurant that subs a QR code for a paper menu. It’s also the bank that doesn’t employ enough phone operators, leaving you stuck on hold. Or it’s the airline, such as American, that can’t hire back workers fast enough post-covid slowdown, so a weather issue in a hub city throws the lives of thousands of people into chaos.

I wonder how many of you have come across Skimpflation since the pandemic? My guess - almost all of you.