Seth Godin’s recent blog on “Rationalizing your project” really struck a chord with me. Godin talks about how companies and individuals fail to follow advice because, “In the face of helpful advice, it’s easy to say, ‘sure, that’s what I’m already doing,’” or justify altering the advice to make things easier for them. He gives an excellent […]
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Counting on What Counts
The saying goes that not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts. Those are excellent words to live by in both personal and business relationships. I especially like the nuance of the first part of the quote because all too often companies are seeking the holy grail of “value,” but […]
Don’t be a Stick or a Paper Tiger
KPJR Films has a fabulous documentary called “Paper Tigers.” It’s about how a high school decided to approach troubled youths – who are acting out because of trauma and toxic stress levels – with love and respect rather than punishment. The documentary is supported by research from clinical physician Dr. Vincent Felitti and CDC epidemiologist Robert Anda; they […]
George Akerlof and the Lemon Problem
George Akerlof put math behind the concept of the “lemon problem” in his classic 1970 article, Akerlof (with Michael Spence and Joseph Stiglitz) received the 2001 Nobel Prize for their analyses of markets with asymmetric information. This YouTube video explains the lemon problem in an easy to understand two-minute clip. In a nutshell, there are honest sellers and dishonest sellers (e.g. those selling […]
A New Day, A New Way for Island Health and Hospitalists
Our latest case study relates the extraordinary and inspiring journey of the Victoria Island Health Authority and their Hospitalists as they used the Vested model to transform their troubled labor relationship into a highly collaborative one. Most on the team have called the shift to transformational. Some go so far to say it was more like […]
All I Want for Christmas and the New Year…
As I ponder the holiday season and the start of a New Year, I wonder – from a Vested perspective of course – what would happen if Christmas stockings and New Year resolutions contained: Collaboration instead of coal Win-win instead of whine-whine Trust instead of truculence Integrity instead of infamy Value instead of venom Decency […]
The Problem with Supplier Trust
The problem with trust when it comes to suppliers is that they probably supply many different companies, perhaps even your competitors – so how do you trust them? But have you stopped to think the reverse is also true: how can suppliers trust their buyers? This is a situation as old as the buyer-supplier relationship […]
Telia-Veolia Case Study
We’ve published the latest example of Vested in practice, a case study describing how Telia – a Swedish telecom company – applied the Request for Partner process to get to a Vested agreement with Veolia, one of its long-time suppliers. Simply put, Vested helped them go from a supplier-buyer relationship to a true strategic partnership. […]
Trust the Price Tag?
The concept of a price tag is only about 140 years old. Prior to that transactions were a negotiation between buyer and seller. Basically, everything was a yard sale, with haggling expected. Today of course, haggling about the price of an airline seat or an entree at your favorite restaurant is a lost cause. The price […]
Most Negotiated vs. Most Important Contract Terms
It’s here! IACCM has released this year’s report on the most negotiated contract terms, which provides insight into the contracting practices of more than 2,100 organizations. One of the major insights of the survey identifies . Writing recently in his Commitment Matters column, IAACM president Tim Cummins said that participants confirmed “the steady shift of business […]
