Substance over form; Outcomes, like size, matters

The recent Local Government elections caused me to reflect on just how alike Outsourcers and Politicians are:

• Politicians produce a manifesto; outsourcers produce a proposal
• Politicians get a term of office ; Outsourcers get a contract term, both are measured in years
• Politicians are expected to deliver on their promises; Outsourcers are expected to meet their SLA’s
• Politicians come up for re-election ; Outsourcers get contract renewals

We ultimately judge Politicians on the outcomes of their time in office. The newspapers often attempt to judge the feel good factor, …or otherwise, engendered by their actions. This impression is built up as a result of their actions over a period of time, and not, as Politicians would like to believe, by their activities in the 3 weeks of campaigning immediately prior to an election.

Councillors in Warwick and Stratford upon Avon were judged, amongst other things, on a planning decision to go ahead with the Barford village by pass. This is generally thought to be “a good thing”. This was weighed in the balance with the news that they are considering following the current fashion of moving to fortnightly refuse collections – this is not viewed favorably locally. The glossy pamphlets extolling their individual virtues and poking fun at (say) the green candidate who would have to drive halfway across the county for each meeting, were not hotly debated in the bar of the Black Horse pub in our village. Instead, it was the hard outcomes, the personal experiences of each individual affected that were the items that actually got discussed over a pint of Hooky.

In outsourcing, Clients judge Service Providers (SP’s) by the contribution made to their business over time. The governance process is interesting only in the amount of time it occupies in the diary, and as a mechanism to get things done. At decision time, the Client will ask themselves questions such as:

Did the SP contribute to developing my plans for launching my new product line ?

• …..or did they rub their hands and treat it as a distress purchase?
• ..…was it seen merely as a good opportunity to improve revenue and margins ?

Did the SP step up to the mark when we sold that other business division ?

• Did they make my life easy or hard ?
• Were they on the critical path all the time?
• Did the other side notice that we had outsourced X function?

In the event of poor outcomes at key business events - so called “moments of truth” - consistent, compliant, SLA performance will not be enough to balance these out, and the quality of governance processes or the degree of (say) ITIL compliance in IT service operations will count for even less. Palliative actions in the last weeks running up to a renewal decision will not suffice for an incumbent to overturn the impression built up over years.

My message can be summarised as:
Service Providers: If there was a snap election on your contract this Thursday, what are the business outcomes that would demonstrate your fitness for re-election ?
Hint – you will not find the answer in the service reporting section of the contract

Clients: Would you campaign for your Service Provider to be re-elected this Thursday ? If it was a free vote, how would your organisation’s employees vote ?


In Conclusion: Good outcomes deliver good incomes in the long run.