Monday’s Dilbert cartoon has a pitch-perfect take on one of the common problems that occur in outsourcing agreements, something that I call the Activity Trap. “I don’t want you to be more efficient. You’re working on a government contract and billing by the hour.” That in a nutshell is the Activity Trap. But it’s […]
outsourcing
Does Sheen Give “Winning” a Bad Name?
Yesterday I was working with a client to develop a workshop they have asked me to facilitate in order to help them turn their existing relationship into a high gear, highly collaborative Vested relationship. I came up with a title for the workshop that included the word “winning.” My client asked me to take out […]
Beware of the Outsourcing Scorpion
You may have heard the fable of the scorpion and the frog, which has some very definite lessons about trust, collaboration, self-interest and the basic nature of humans. This fable provides a wise lesson for those in the outsourcing business as well. In the story, a scorpion needs to cross a river but wonders how he […]
Consider the Outsourcing “Not” List
Most people in this industry, me included, tend to write about what outsourcing is, or should be. That’s a natural and normal approach, especially as we develop concepts and systems and the right way to outsource—such as (ahem) the Vested Outsourcing way! But sometimes looking through the other end of the lens can bring a […]
Outsourcing, Trust and Stewardship Delegation
Sometimes it is worthwhile to go back to the future—especially when it comes to pulling Stephen R. Covey’s, The 7 habits of Highly Effective People, off the shelf for a quick review. Covey’s classic bestseller on personal effectiveness, published in 1989, has huge lessons for business and leadership effectiveness; it also has great resonance for […]
Lawyers Who “Get” the True Nature of Outsourcing
Last time I talked about two lawyers who “get” outsourcing deals as much more than a legal exercise to reduce costs, mitigate liability and avoid risks. With today’s post I’ll follow up with some thoughts on three more, Jeanette Nyden, George Kimball and Jim Groton, and how they also understand the importance of using the […]
Lawyers Who “Get” Outsourcing as a Partnership
It’s really refreshing when lawyers understand outsourcing as much more than a cost reduction and risk avoidance exercise. This is an important point to ponder as The Vested Outsourcing Manual hits the bookstores this week, because it has extensive guidance about the priorities that attorneys for companies and service providers should bring to modern outsource […]
Outsourcing: Collaboration is More Than a State of Mind
The true test of collaboration occurs when you really have to collaborate, say during a crisis or when the powers that be ask you to do more or to do something radically different. In short collaboration is a nice word but it’s only truly effective and real when what you’re collaborating on is difficult, uncomfortable […]
Spend Outsourcing Time on Outcomes, Not SLAs
If you’ve been involved with outsourcing long enough, and if you’ve paid attention to the basic message of Vested Outsourcing, then then you probably know that service level agreements—SLAs—are somewhat lacking when it comes to forging collaborative and transformative relationships. That’s mainly because task-oriented SLAs generally are too one-sided in favor of the company outsourcing. […]
Outsource Magazine, Jun 2011
The fifth academic in her series “The Academics of Outsourcing”, lead researcher Kate Vitasek highlights the accomplishments of Robert Solow and how his work impacts outsourcing. Kate explains it all in her article “Robert Solow: innovation, technology – and math! – make all the difference.”
