Today, I had a great conversation with an attorney I shared an employer with in my early days in the purchasing profession. We recorded a podcast on a topic that the purchasing profession just doesn’t have enough available educational material on. You’ll hear more about that in the weeks ahead.
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Anyway, my colleague recalled a legal training session that he did for the company’s purchasing department years ago. And he clearly recalled a director approaching him afterward and saying “I’ve been in purchasing for 30 years, and I never knew what those terms meant until now.”
My colleague was both pleased – that he could teach a seasoned purchasing director something new – and horrified that, after 30 years, a highly-paid professional didn’t bother to seek to learn about some technical yet common things.
Is there something in contracts, specifications, or other aspects of your job that you’ve encountered often but never bothered to learn? If so, will you be like the purchasing director in this story and wait your whole career until someone explains it to you or will you be proactive and seek clarity on your own?
Recommended Reading
US Congressman Murphy Visits Next Level Purchasing Headquarters
Mashed Peas For The Traveling Procurement Professional’s Soul
Purchasing Professionals: Would You Let Yourself Be Ignorant For 30 Years?
How To Filter Supplier Selection Advice
January 2011’s Dedicated Purchasing Student of the Month Is…
