The Power of Patience and Perseverance
John Quincy Adams, our sixth President of the United States, once said that “Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish”. This quote should be the mantra of all supply chain professionals since it is the essence of what we do: prepare, present, win/lose, and then if necessary, reorganize to try again on another day.
What disturbs me is that too many supply chain professionals GIVE UP too easily. They accept a NO decision as being final, without being patient and persevering in finding the right opportunity to make their case again. Maybe in a different way!
This reminds me of a supply chain manager, who is now a client of ours, who impressed me by his patience and perseverance in getting approval on our Utilizer™ Dashboard subscription service. He saw the value of our Utilizer™, but his senior management didn’t. He could have stopped there and no one would have thought less of him, but he didn’t stop at the first sign of resistance. Instead, he patiently persevered by asked his CEO and CFO what would need to happen to get this service approved. They then give him a number of tests (IT approval, high marks on reference checks, favorable case studies, legal review, etc.) that our Utilizer™ would need to pass in order to obtain their approval. He then methodically set out to meet all these tests that where outlined for him by his CEO and CFO. Well, it took a few weeks to make all these requirements happen, but guess what? This MM met all the tests and gained his management approval. That’s what the power of patience and perseverance can do for you!
No one’s batting average is 1,000% on getting your ideas approved, nor should it be in a democratic healthcare organization. However, if you don’t have a batting average of 500% or better you need to do something different to get different results. I agree with John Quincy Adams that the best way to do so is with patience and perseverance. This will have the magical effect of making your difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish. Isn’t this what you are looking for?
Filed Under: Best Practices • savingsblog
