The end of summer makes me feel a bit contemplative. Some of that is spending time in the Northwoods on one of my favorite annual family vacations. Some of it is knowing another summer with my kids at home has passed. All of this makes me ask myself about my regrets.
I don’t have many regrets.
I have a friend who likes to say, “It began, it ended. The right people showed up. It couldn’t have happened any other way.” Similarly, my husband has been telling me since we met, “What’s done is done.” They’re both very wise and over the years I’ve gotten better at not dwelling on what could have been.
I believe worrying about the future and regretting the past are only helpful if we change something in response.
I have the number one regret of adults in the U.S., according to a podcast episode between Brené Brown and Dan Pink (and if Brené Brown says it, I believe it!): Not studying abroad in college. I should have done so. And yet, this regret has changed how I travel now. I travel outside of the U.S. more and try to experience as much of the world as possible when I do. I’m a believer in travel to make people more well-rounded, and my kids have now been on a few international trips.
I also regret some things missing from my book, like the answer to the question “When is an organization ready for e-auctions?” (I still facepalm a little when I think about missing that one.) Or a draft email of the first communication to send to suppliers (if you want one, send me a note). The thing around writing a book, however, is that it’s never truly done. My editor, Sierra Melcher, tells authors that at some point, we just have to push our Book Baby into the world. We can fuss over a draft forever, but a book that doesn’t get published is of no value to anyone. Perhaps my action here is to compile all these missing pieces together into a second book, and in the meantime I’ll keep putting the missing pieces in my articles.
I don’t regret leaving the corporate world.
Even if I go back into corporate someday, it’s with a different perspective on business. Running my own business has allowed me to see how many different companies run their procurement and helped me think about businesses more strategically. It surprised me at first (but no longer does) how many companies have the same struggles: minimal contracts, poor processes not ready for AI automation, and constantly having to meet new savings goals using the same old tools.
While I could always help an organization with these issues, now my help has a framework. A structure. A method and experience with it working at multiple companies of different sizes and industries. Like my education, I now have that knowledge forever, no matter what role I’m serving in.
I don’t regret my path, even though the 25-year-old me would have looked at it and laughed. What’s done is done, and I’m moving forward.
What (if anything) do you regret? Drop me a line, I’d love to hear about it.
-Janice
This is a monthly series on a more personal note. If you’re more interested in the denser, supply chain/leadership articles, here’s a few from this last month:
A Procurement Integrity Test: Can You Fire Your Favorite Supplier?
- A surprisingly popular post about when procurement professionals get just a little too close to supplier reps.
Five Things to Help Your New Supply Chain Leader Hit the Ground Running
- What a supply chain leader needs to thrive, and not just from their boss
Questions or Answers? The Roles of Consultant, Executive, and Coach in Business
- I thought Executives have all the answers. Instead, I’ve found they have all the right questions.
If you’d like to talk about your regrets, team, procurement, or anything else, let’s chat. If you’d like to get these articles weekly straight to your inbox and never miss one, sign up for my newsletter.
My book, Transform Procurement: The Value of E-auctions is available in ebook, paperback and even hardcover format: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F79T6F25
My chapter in the powerful anthology Femme Led: Hard-Learned Lessons from Women in Leadership is now available in ebook and paperback format: https://a.co/d/0bOzma8F
