hallelujah I get to think!

In this, our company's month that has been dedicated to corporate fitness there is nothing like a bit of "spinning" to increase the your metabolism. Today has been a good day in terms of finding some potential solution space to an ongoing Procurement problem which we need to resolve. To this extent we have begun to investigate the potential use an e-Procurement shopping portal and the initial discussions have proven to be fruitful.

Once we have taken a more detailed look at the system and if it does meet our needs then we will get into the part of the job that I enjoy which is the "bias for action" bit. Generally this part tends to scare people because there is a risk of failure attached to it but for me it's the best of part of the job because I get to think.

The last internal leadership course that I attended, one of the convenors asked what elements make up a successful team and much to the surprise of the audience, I said that every successful team should contain a "spin doctor," a person that is able to position the solution on the agendas of those people who can make or break it.

Maybe the watered down version of spin is, "marketing the idea," some people even prefer the notion of change management or engagement. The most important reason for this is that there are always going to be voices with a leaning toward the "what if we did nothing" alternative. Don't get me wrong I like to do nothing but I don't necessarily want to be doing it in big-bad-oil-and-gas.

The back benchers only change their tune when their are more influential people are in disagreement, and these are the people that you need to begin to convince. You can convince them by way of future benefits, future crisis avoidance, and by telling them that you intend to lobby the solution with other more influential people. All of the above mentioned may or may not be 'entirely' true but it's your 'spin on the solution' that will get their attention.

Typically though people hedge but don't get disheartened instead view it as "tacit" permission, so just forge ahead in the knowledge that it's much easier to get forgiveness than it is to get permission. Last week I began to lobby, this week I am decisively moving ahead before people get cold feet, reassuring them that there is very little risk and that they need to do very little by way of work (spin).

As a result this morning I was able to claim a small philosophical victory and hallelujah I once again get to think!