That’s the title of my latest column for Outsource Magazine. It begins this way: Too often people and businesses are locked into either destructive I-win-you-lose relationships, or what I often call a “ping pong” match where you are in a so-so relationship but either don’t know there is a better way or don’t have the […]
win-win
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 […]
Outsourcing is No Longer “Out There”
Even as outsourcing becomes more and more mainstream confusion remains about its relationship to offshoring says Deloitte, the highly regarded tax, audit and financial consulting firm, in its latest survey on the topic. “The outsourcing market continues to confuse outsourcing with offshoring,” Deloitte says. “Many respondents still see the two processes as inseparable – even […]
Reveal Intentions to Gain Trust
There are a couple of sides to trust and fostering trust, one being management competence—both operationally and politically—and another being character. Linda A. Hill and Kent Lineback, authors of Being the Boss: The 3 Imperatives for Becoming a Great Leader (HBR Press, 2011), have written about the trust aspects of leadership for the HBR Blog Network. […]
Putting Some Vested Skin in the Game
In a Vested partnership it’s important for the company and the service provider to have what I often call “skin in the game,” or basically a commitment to making the deal work by putting their money and resources where their mouth is. A real-world example of this idea was on display in the case of […]
Alignment Gives You a Head Start to Vested
Alignment is key in Vested Outsourcing. Companies like Jaguar and Unipart showed the importance of properly aligning when they created a shared vision more than a decade ago: it catapulted them to the top of the JD Powers charts. And when I read through an excellent eyefortransport report on outsourcing logistics strategy I am reminded […]
Shoot for Trust, Not Trustiness!
A recent post from one of my favorite writers and bloggers, Seth Godin, talks about “trustiness,” or the idea that simply sounding like you or your company has a commitment to trust is just as good as actually instilling a true ecosystem of trust. It’s a bow to Stephen Colbert’s famous take on “truthiness,” or […]
Two Years On: Happy Birthday Vested!
Throughout the evolution of our initial research that started in 2004, leading experts and innovators have contributed to the development of Vested principles and the Vested business model for adoption in nearly every industry and business function. We’ve come to create somewhat of a “movement” as the idea expands. As we conducted our research, it […]
2012 Outsourcing Wish List: Collaboration and Sustainability Please!
This is the time of year for trend lists and predictions. Usually they are mostly wrong or well, predictable. There are some that are worth paying attention to however. One is the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals’ Top Outsourcing Trends for 2012. For instance, IAOP says we should watch out for more M&As and consolidation […]
