The following story or meme has been popping up on social media lately. Reading it, I was immediately reminded of the ingenuity of many longstanding employees and their ability or know-how when it comes to ways to bypass company policies and procedures.
Before you get insulted, and say “I would never do that,” I will share a couple of statistics with you before the story:
I know the above examples focus on cybersecurity. Still, I think it is not unreasonable to believe that any policy or process – including with procurement, that interferes with an employee doing their job to what they believe is the best of their ability would have a similar “non-compliance” problem.
Now that I have created a little context, here is the story or meme to which I was referring:
An old lady handed her bank card to the teller and said “I would like to withdraw $10”. The teller told her “for withdrawals less than $100, please use the ATM.
The old lady wanted to know why… The teller returned her bank card and irritably told her “these are the rules, please leave if there is no further matter. There is a line of customers behind you”.
The old lady remained silent for a few seconds and handed her card back to the teller and said “please help me withdraw all the money I have.” The teller was astonished when she checked the account balance. She nodded her head, leaned down and respectfully told her “you have $1,300,000 in your account but the bank doesn’t have that much cash currently. Could you make an appointment and come back again tomorrow?
The old lady then asked how much she could withdraw immediately. The teller told her any amount up to $3000. “Well please let me have $3000 now.” The teller kindly handed $3000 very friendly and with a smile to her.
The old lady put $10 in her purse and asked the teller to deposit $2,990 back into her account.
The moral of this story is….
Don’t be difficult with old people, they spent a lifetime learning the skill. (And don’t be difficult with longtime procurement professionals who know the ropes.)
Procurement Insights
How many times would you (or have you) bypass company policy to get the job done?
Posted on August 14, 2023
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The following story or meme has been popping up on social media lately. Reading it, I was immediately reminded of the ingenuity of many longstanding employees and their ability or know-how when it comes to ways to bypass company policies and procedures.
Before you get insulted, and say “I would never do that,” I will share a couple of statistics with you before the story:
I know the above examples focus on cybersecurity. Still, I think it is not unreasonable to believe that any policy or process – including with procurement, that interferes with an employee doing their job to what they believe is the best of their ability would have a similar “non-compliance” problem.
Now that I have created a little context, here is the story or meme to which I was referring:
An old lady handed her bank card to the teller and said “I would like to withdraw $10”. The teller told her “for withdrawals less than $100, please use the ATM.
The old lady wanted to know why… The teller returned her bank card and irritably told her “these are the rules, please leave if there is no further matter. There is a line of customers behind you”.
The old lady remained silent for a few seconds and handed her card back to the teller and said “please help me withdraw all the money I have.” The teller was astonished when she checked the account balance. She nodded her head, leaned down and respectfully told her “you have $1,300,000 in your account but the bank doesn’t have that much cash currently. Could you make an appointment and come back again tomorrow?
The old lady then asked how much she could withdraw immediately. The teller told her any amount up to $3000. “Well please let me have $3000 now.” The teller kindly handed $3000 very friendly and with a smile to her.
The old lady put $10 in her purse and asked the teller to deposit $2,990 back into her account.
The moral of this story is….
Don’t be difficult with old people, they spent a lifetime learning the skill. (And don’t be difficult with longtime procurement professionals who know the ropes.)
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