Letter H: Happiness is when what you think, what you say and what you do are in harmony - Mahatma Gandhi

Another way of stating this aphorism is, ‘say what you think and do what you say’. Often there are clear problems in the design of the sourcing relationship which can be easily repaired. But invariably the people who see the problem do not have the authority to fix it. This is also more prevalent in the IT function where accountability and responsibility are often divorced. Set a mantra to fix at least one relationship element each month.


This aphorism is linked to ‘D’.

Letter G: Managers Get the behaviours they deserve – Chris Anderson

Management has become somewhat lost. The traditional rules for effective management are becoming increasingly redundant as a result of globalisation, mobile workforce (remote workers), collaboration tools (Web 2.0), and the increasing importance of work-life balance. Managers must start to better manage the new workforce of this millennium. It is not surprising that in IT the main complaint is finding and retaining great staff. Make certain that as a manager you have the right and effective performance management system in place. Otherwise, go home.

The story of the Vasa is recommended.

This aphorism is linked to ‘P.

Letter F: Fail to plan, plan to fail - Unknown

It is critical to effectively plan for all stages of the sourcing life-cycle, whether you choose a 6 or 7 stage model. Failure to plan effectively will attenuate the value sought and realised.

This aphorism is linked to ‘T’.

Letter E: Disorder and Entropy in an unmeasured or unmonitored system will always increase - Aron

This is one of the great modern aphorisms for management. In sourcing we need to remain vigilant to measure the critical few. We must in IT sourcing make the leap from technology metrics (server availability, capacity) to business metrics (time to money, regulatory compliance)


This aphorism is linked to ‘I’.

Letter D: Do the right thing, and Do it right - Unknown

One of the difficulties is knowing what are the ‘right things’. In sourcing we don’t even have a universally agreed business model against which to assess right from wrong.

‘The easiest outcome to achieve in outsourcing is failure’.
This doesn’t take any hard work or brains. To understand what are the ‘right things’, I use Domberger’s dimensions of value for contracting - Financial Benefit, Market Discipline, Flexibility and Specialisation. Customer Satisfaction is a dependent variable. See below for the Sourcing Value Compass.

This aphorism is linked to ‘J’.