“Bloggers are writing recipes that aren’t tested, aren’t necessarily very good or are copies of things that really good editors have created and done. Bloggers create a kind of …umm…popularity but they are not the experts. We have to understand that.” – Martha Stewart
Nothing beats a good dust-up to get the heart pumping and the temperature rising. Martha Stewart proved that with her dismissive comments that “bloggers are not experts.” The reaction from the infinite number of lifestyle bloggers speaks directly to this point.
However, one has to pause and ask themselves the question; is Stewart really that far off the mark? I am not so sure.
Now some of you may be wondering why I would agree with Stewart’s smugly harsh assessment of the bolgsphere. After all, and despite the countless articles that I have written that have appeared in traditional print mediums, I am at heart and in practice a blogger.
This immutable truth not withstanding I have, as demonstrated by recent posts It’s the end of the world as we know it . . . at least for traditional analyst firms and bloggers, and SciQuest has the secret sauce for contract management success? Not according to Oregon and Colorado!, raised similar type questions regarding blogging in the procurement world.
Where I do take issue – if you could call it that – with Stewart’s comment, is her definition of an expert.
Expertise should not be determined by a title or company with whom one works. Nor should it be confined to a degree or certification alone. Expertise, as one lifestyle blogger responded, should be based on practical experience in the real-world. I would take it a step further by adding the following caveat; expertise or the recognition of expertise should be based upon the thoroughness of your understanding of the subject matter about which you are writing, and the veracity of your advice in terms of empowering people to make the best decisions. This latter point is particularly important!
Given that the majority of all eProcurement initiatives have failed to deliver the anticipated results, one would have to question the “expertise” of the bloggers – including analysts – upon whom the industry has relied over the years.
Let’s face it, for a procurement blog to move out of the realms of being seen as little more than a marketing tool for a particular vendor or vendors, the insight that is provided has to ultimately lead to a successful implementation for the end user. Otherwise what is the point of a blog?
In the context of the above assessment, Stewart could have just as easily been talking about the procurement industry.
What do you think?
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Procurement Insights 
Kelly Barner
October 18, 2013
Very interesting post Jon.
This is a topic I have been concerned with from the very beginning of my time at Buyers Meeting Point. When my now business partner Cindy Allen-Murphy invited me to come on board as a co-owner, I asked her, “How will I remain relevant?”
Whether or not I have managed to keep the right mindset and perspective after taking a step back from hands-on procurement execution is a matter of opinion. What I recognize after 3.5 years of writing/blogging about procurement topics is that the career move that brought my relevance into question is the only thing that allows me to share my experiences.
There are two things that bloggers have that their practitioner counterparts – or experts – don’t: objectivity and the freedom to speak.
When you are working directly for a company or for a consulting practice, it is hard to imagine what it is like to walk in others’ shoes. Industries and companies have a wide range of procurement philosophies, maturity levels, and organizational structures. Resisting the urge to assume other situations are like yours requires a conscious effort. When you attend webinars, as I frequently do, listening to the Q&A at the end is a great way to gauge how the audience relates to the information, but only if you are not looking to apply the content to your own situation.
Practitioners are also (understandably) reluctant to share their tactics and experiences for fear of providing too much information to competitors and suppliers or offending their employer. Comments in response to blog posts or LinkedIn discussions are few and far between, so original content from these colleagues are a bit of a stretch to expect. They have little incentive to share and less time to do it in.
At the end of the day, the non-practitioner (non-expert?) blogger is not an ideal, but in many cases, we’re all you’ve got!
And for any practitioner ‘experts’ reading this, we’d all love for you to sound off! Comment here or to @BuyersMeetPoint on Twitter.
piblogger
October 18, 2013
Thank you Kelly for that interesting perspective.
I have to tell you that your references to what a practioner can and cannot say, immediately reminded me of a conversation I once had with a senior member of the CGI implementation team.
This individual, who had attended one of my seminars, told me that the reason she believed that so many eProcurement implementations failed was due to a “thin talent pool.”
Specifically, the true talent and expertise within CGI was limited to a very small number of consultants who would land the contracts. Once won, these consultants would hand off the implementation to less experienced consultants so that they could move on to the next opportunity.
When she told me this, I could sense a heaviness as she obviously felt bad. I also believe that she told me this because she felt that she wanted people to know.
I cannot help but wonder if this person has indeed moved on, whether she would feel comfortable divulging this information publicly herself or if there remained a certain loyalty factor.
And perhaps this is the point that Martha Stewart was trying to make re the reliability of the information being provided.
This being said, I still believe that the error – if you could use that term – that Stewart made is again in her definition of an expert.
I believe the same applies to the practioner and non-practioner distinction as well.
I myself was what you would call a practioner yet, I do not feel any obligation to withhold opinions if they are thoroughly researched and referenced. In essence being a practioner or a non-practioner, at least in my case, is a moot point.
As I had indicated in an earlier post, I believe that “the market is now ready to acknowledge and accept the unpolished reality that all vendors likely have their shortcomings, and that the recognition of said issues will ultimately lead to a better alignment of stakeholder interest and capabilities (http://wp.me/p4HrB-3wU).”
The only question is whether we will or will not, and if the latter, why?