The decisions we make
How often do you rely on your gut instinct during the day?
It’s probably more often than you think. What is it that makes you pick up one tuna and mayonnaise sandwich rather than another? If the length of the queue is the same, what makes you pick one checkout over the one next to it?
Perhaps these choices that draw on the subconscious are more widespread than you initially think, which raises the question – how are they affecting your decision-making at work?
Have you ever made a decision on a choice of supplier because “it just felt right”? Or have you ever made a selection and thought: “I have a bad feeling about this”?
Buyers are meant to be their firms’ guardians of the impartial verdict, but we can never truly divorce ourselves from our gut.
What are your tips on being able to demonstrate impartiality in decision-making?
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I’m not sure buyers are supposed to be the guardians of the impartial verdict: in public sector, yes, but in private sector don’t we want streetwise commercial types ie those who, more than once, would follow their instincts? For what it’s worth, every time I join the shortest queue eg at The Post Office – see yesterday’s blog – it always takes longest.
No buyers can claim that they are impartial. From the very beginning of whoever to be invited to make offers, we are framed already. Perhaps, we can say that the selection is fair enough as it is based upon their performance. Are buyers undertaking the appraisal themselves? On most occasions, it is the contract management to perform that. How are criteria of assessment set? There are stereotypes to certain extent.
Same as auditors, are they impartial? Should they claim so, why can they only certify to the effect that reports reflect the true picture at time of auditing? Does it imply that their screening was subjective? If subjective, it means impartial.
Anyway, this is the rule of the game to survive every profession. Purposely, there is room for improvement. Else, there are no players in the market.