Regular readers of Spend Matters who take the time to check out the comments on a regular basis will know that of all the idiosyncratic irregulars who allow themselves to be drawn into dizzying, debaucherous, delirious debates, the wisdom and wit of the SpendFool is second to none. In an effort to insure that you don’t overlook the stupendous sapience and satire that is only served up to you on the SpendFool’s sliver platter, I am going to summarize the best of such savoir faire for you.

SpendFool Sapience
(Note that since all posts prior to 2012 were removed in the Spend Matters site refresh in June, 2023, the original comments are no longer available as they disappeared with the posts.)

• Toxic/sparse/duplicated supplier master and item/catalog master and contract data will spill into your transaction history unless you keep your data clean. (The real elephant here in the room is that strategic sourcing groups are still doing “drive-by sourcing” events and throwing the contracts over the wall without getting measured on how those savings are really accruing to the business and making that process easier for end users and Purchase to Pay staff.
• The really important risk management stuff is not some external supplier attribute database fed with supplier scorecard data into an auto-magical warning generator, but rather, good scenario planning processes which look holistically at all risk factors and their expected frequency & consequences.
• Reducing your capital base, whether through asset disposition (“Investment recovery”) or working capital improvements through inventory reduction (Goldratt’s “The Goal” rings loudly here), inventory re-deployment, DSO shortening, or DPO improvement (i.e., either stretching DPO or taking attractive early pay discounts), is not an extension of a vendor-defined “space” (or derivative analyst infomercials) named after consumer billing practices from Utilities companies, but rather, a multi-faceted approach (org, process, technology, etc.) to improving returns on capital employed so as to improve ROCE, FCF, EVA, and ultimately, the stock price which makes senior executives (who employ Purchasing professionals) happy.
• Technology trickles down and complexity inevitably gets solved, automated, and deployed to the masses. … I’ll take ‘simple’ tools deployed to the masses (a la Toyota) to touch way more spend, even if the savings are slightly less. Simplicity is key – especially for compliance.
• It’s not the size of the solver, it’s how you use it. … Nothing wrong with the consultants with big brains and tools to solve the really strategic problems AND also use mass deployed tools from ERP and/or SaaS vendors. Pick the right tool for the job.
• Would the exec’s care even realize the gold hidden in the mountains of data, or would the data be lost like the thousands of pedestrians in street? He had to make them see, but how?
• You still need an analytic data model and a physical data store as George Carlin said “a place for your stuff”. … When I say “data warehouse”, I mean having a centralized analytic data model – that’s all. Not an over-engineered, IT-led, designed-from-scratch, custom-built, already-bought-it-so-need-to-use it (i.e., “sunk cost fallacy“) solution-looking-for-a-problem approach.
• Stay with the core competency.
• Scott Adams is a genius. (But you already knew that!)

SpendFool Satire

• Hmmm, methinks you opted for the de-caf latte at the airport and perhaps not all neurons were firing?
• May they fancifully fly in the face of the follies and foibles of a fallacious fiddling flippers to find fresh fields of freedom and fun.
• Remember, the golden road to the emerald city starts in munchkinville, so, power to the little people and those who use them!

Stay Foolish!

Happy New Year, SpendFool!