I was at a conference focused on contracting and a law school professor asserted, “You have three ways to deal with risk. Transfer it. Accept it. Or Insure for it.” There is nothing much new with those options, shifting risk is a popular pastime. But I propose there is a fourth way that is even […]
Blog
Secession as a Negotiation Tactic Will Only Go So Far
In a recent Seth Godin blog, Secession vs. Commitment, he talks about the negotiation tactic of leaving: it is powerful because “when the customer/partner/citizen could bolt at any moment, we act differently.” It may be powerful, but it is a short-term tactic. A better dynamic is commitment, because it is a “creation tactic.” When parties […]
Challenge the Status Quo
We should always challenge, or at least question, the status quo. The status quo is great only if you want the same thing you have always had. But today’s business world is dynamic and companies demand innovation and value creation. Lawyers should embrace change and more progressive thinking from academia that is proving to be […]
Missing a Train
Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable, makes a trenchant point when he says that “missing a train is only painful if you run after it!” Generally speaking, there’s always another train or bus coming along later. And besides you would not run after a plane you missed, would you? […]
Every Vested Contract is Unique
We are often asked, and sometimes even begged, to draft and share a sample contract. People say, “If only I could have an example contract.” Let’s look at why this is a bad idea through the lens of an actual situation. Let’s take an example from ISS, a large facilities management service provider that has […]
The Power of Walking Away
Many organizations have a strong oversight mantra. But sadly, oversight can often lead to bad decisions – especially when it comes to large, complex and high-risk projects. Why? Psychological studies show that people fall victim to what is known as “status quo bias” and the sunk cost fallacy. Simply put, we tend to get sucked into […]
One Service – Three Visions
In our 3 Day Vested Outsourcing course we teach organizations how to do a Business Model Map in order to determine if Vested is the right Sourcing Business Model for their situation. One question that came up was, “Wouldn’t a buyer and a supplier have the same shared vision once they decided to create a […]
Keeping Contracts Simple
I’ve long been an advocate of “plain language contracting” – in fact, for many years. After all, it is the users of the contracts who need to understand and live into them. Of course, I perked up when I saw an insurance company issuing a plain language contract. The company is Lemonade and they are […]
Avoiding the Death Spiral
Many procurement organizations don’t realize they are in a virtual death spiral when it comes to cost-cutting. Procurement organizations that constantly demand lower and lower costs (often having a metric known as Purchase Price Variance) often find themselves in a painful death spiral with the companies’ supplier relationships. When a company gets in a tit-for-tat clash […]
Paying the Piper
The old saying goes, “He who pays the piper calls the tune.” The adage dates back to medieval times and emphasizes the fact that the person paying someone to do something decides how that something gets done. Paying the Piper makes a great deal of sense in transactional deals; if Company A is footing the bill, shouldn’t it call the shots? […]
