Umair Haque, the always engaging and thought-provoking economist, hit the nail squarely this week in his HBR blog on the importance of teamwork, collaboration and achieving synchronicity for business success. He poses this question: “If you were the next Steve Jobs, what problems would you try to solve?” He relates a personal story about his […]
Blog
A Game Theory Power Play — UK Style!
I often use game theory and the prisoner’s dilemma in my talks to share the advantages and disadvantages of cooperation. In the prisoner’s dilemma “players” are not in the same room and are unable to negotiate and have to make choices on whether to cooperate or not based on rewards. There are three simple outcomes. […]
Onboarding Compatibility and Trust
I recently read an article by George Bradt in Forbes about how “only three true job interview questions” matter. The three questions he cites are: Can you do the job? Will you love the job? Can we tolerate working with you? I think these questions are also highly pertinent when picking a supplier or service provider. Simply […]
Arrogance Always Precedes a Fall
Frequently I engage in good fodder with colleagues and luminaries on topics that seem obscure—but then somehow prove to have powerful lessons for today’s businesses. This post comes courtesy of Steve Frampton – who left a successful career as a procurement professional and outsourcing change management expert at Kimberly Clark to become a business coach. […]
Spacing Out on Risk, Shared Value and Desired Outcomes, Part 2
Last week I talked about the Apollo Program and Robert Braun’s idea that you can “celebrate failure” – which boils down not being afraid fail in order to achieve your Desired Outcome. Braun, NASA’s Chief Technologist, probably knows a little something about risks, innovation and how to handle them. In an interview in NASA’s ask […]
Spacing Out on Risk, Innovation and Desired Outcomes, Part 1
A risk-averse mindset would never have landed us on the Moon during the heady days that followed John F. Kennedy’s directive in 1962 for the U.S. to “go to the Moon” by the end of that decade. I love to use story of how powerful Kennedy’s words were when I teach students and executives about […]
Think Right, Do Right, Add It Up Right!
I had a lively conversation with my good friend, colleague and co-author of The Vested Outsourcing Manual – Jacqui Crawford – who spouted off a wise quip I think is worth paying attention too. “Think right, do right, add it up right!” Those eight words contain a powerful message that’s embodied in the five rules […]
Needed: A “Getting to We” Negotiations Philosophy
If you are familiar with the Vested business model, you are probably aware of what we in the Vested universe actively promote as a What’s In It For We (WIIFWe) approach for developing and negotiating outsourcing contracts. A long time friend and expert in negotiations skills training – Jeanette Nyden – joined our UT faculty […]
Incentives the Wright Way
In my Vested books and speaking engagements I frequently cite the Wright brothers’ first contract as a great and early example of a win-win, outcome-based incentive plan. The challenge with any outcome-based plan is to understand the business at hand, align the parties’ interests and then clearly define and measure the results. The Wright brothers’ […]
Wells Fargo and Vested Ideas
Six leading outsourcing advisers have some interesting things to say about the current state of outsourcing, a good portion of them right in the Vested wheelhouse. Wells Fargo Securities recently issued its forecast for the outsourcing industry based on a conference call with outsourcing analysts at Alsbridge, Deloitte, Everest, HfS Research, KPMG and PwC. The […]
