Here are two separate, yet related excerpts from a post I wrote in August 2007 titled “Procurement’s expanding role and the executive of the future.”
Another comment that caught my attention was the position taken by one panel member that out of his organization’s 20,000 suppliers only a few (i.e. 100) will merit engagement from a strategic perspective. As a result, there is going to be a continuing need for what was referred to as “low-level” buyers. However, the same individual concluded that “one strategic business thinker with the right skills and capabilities is worth 10 or 12 of your normal, run-of-the-mill purchasing people.”
This indicates that some companies confine their purchasing departments to a narrowly defined functional role versus being a strategic contributor. While I do not have specific data regarding the percentage of organizations that operate under this misconception, the consequences of doing so can be catastrophic.
Here is today’s LinkedIn post from KPMG’s Tanya Wade about the 22 Procurement Core Skills for 2030. Her post immediately brought to mind the above 2007 article.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Tanya’s grid (and similar lists) can be useful as complements—communication, data literacy, ESG fluency all matter. The failure comes when they’re used as substitutes for procurement’s native competencies and when organizations don’t demand runtime evidence that the skills change outcomes.
The 2007 Hansen article provides chilling validation that Tanya’s 2030 skills framework represents the exact “assimilation vs. expansion” problem Hansen warned about 18 years ago.
The Prophetic Accuracy of the 2007 Analysis
Hansen’s Core Warning Realized
There is a significant difference between expansion and assimilation in that expansion acknowledges that purchasing can have a broader role in the organization’s overall success while still recognizing and working within its unique operating framework. Assimilation, on the other hand, tends to view procurement as an adjunct of a core practice.
Tanya’s framework exhibits classic assimilation characteristics – positioning procurement professionals as generalists who master technology tools rather than developing indigenous procurement capabilities.
The “Class Distinction” Problem Persists
One strategic business thinker with the right skills and capabilities is worth 10 or 12 of your normal, run-of-the-mill purchasing people.
Tanya’s framework reinforces this hierarchy by positioning AI collaboration and ESG integration as elite skills while relegating traditional procurement capabilities to the “Out-of-Focus” zone.
Direct Parallels: 2007 Warnings vs. 2025 Reality
The “Generalist vs. Specialist” Debate
In 2007, Hansen identified that procurement is becoming more of a profession for generalists, rather than specialists, due to problematic assimilation thinking.
2024 Tanya inadvertently promotes cross-functional skills (ESG, AI, value chain risk) without corresponding emphasis on deep procurement expertise – exactly the generalist approach Hansen warned against.
The “Business Language” Trap
2007 Context: People who come from business… and therefore understand the business language were valued over procurement professionals.
2025 Reality: Tanya’s framework emphasizes stakeholder communication and commercial curiosity but lacks emphasis on procurement-specific diagnostic capabilities that the Hansen methodology requires.
Critical Missing Elements from a 2007 Perspective
Indigenous Procurement Capabilities
The 2007 article emphasizes the importance of maintaining a “unique operating framework” and indigenous attributes. Tanya’s framework lacks:
- Procurement-specific root cause analysis
- Vendor behavioral pattern recognition
- Implementation failure prediction capabilities
The Catastrophic Consequences Warning
The consequences of doing so can be catastrophic – Hansen provided examples of power supply failures and lead paint recalls where procurement expertise could have prevented disasters.
Tanya’s framework doesn’t address risk identification through procurement expertise but rather risk monitoring through technology tools.
The Talent Development Contradiction
2007 Question Still Unanswered
Are the only individuals who possess the capability to run the procurement department of the future the ones who do not think of themselves as being procurement professionals?
2025 Framework Implications
Tanya’s skills grid suggests that traditional procurement capabilities are becoming obsolete, replaced by business generalist skills – precisely the concerning trend Hansen identified.
Hansen’s 18-Year Vindication
The Credibility Question
It is really a question of credibility. In which individual would the CEO and board have the greatest level of confidence?
Hansen’s 2007 analysis predicted that organizations would continue favoring business generalists over procurement specialists, leading to systematic implementation failures.
The Development vs. Acquisition Problem
If an organization fails to invest in developing its leaders from within, then it is likely that it will look to someone outside of the corporation.
Tanya’s framework emphasizes acquiring new skills rather than developing indigenous procurement capabilities – perpetuating the external dependency that Hansen warned against.
Bottom Line Assessment
The 2007 article reveals that Tanya’s 2030 framework represents 18 years of continued assimilation rather than learning from Hansen’s warnings. Despite technological evolution, the fundamental tension between procurement expertise and business generalist capabilities remains unresolved.
Hansen’s methodology suggests that organizations following Tanya’s framework will continue to experience implementation failures because they’re optimizing for cross-functional acceptability rather than procurement transformation effectiveness.
The 2007 article essentially predicted that frameworks like Tanya’s would emerge – and that they would perpetuate the same systematic problems that Hansen has documented across nearly two decades of procurement transformation analysis.
Model 5’s reading tracks with the Procurement Insights record: when procurement is assimilated into generic “future skills,” organizations look modern yet keep failing the same way. The fix isn’t to reject those skills—it’s to anchor them to indigenous capabilities and demand runtime evidence that they improve real flows. That’s the Hansen Method’s edge, and it’s the standard to hold any 2030 skills framework to.
TODAY’S TAKEAWAY: What are the skills that procurement professionals should be developing in 2025 for today and the future? I will cover that in the next post.
30
BONUS COVERAGE
Procurement Insights
Is KPMG’s Tanya Wade’s Post On 22 Procurement Skills For 2030 Setting Practitioners Up For Success?
Posted on September 22, 2025
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Here are two separate, yet related excerpts from a post I wrote in August 2007 titled “Procurement’s expanding role and the executive of the future.”
Another comment that caught my attention was the position taken by one panel member that out of his organization’s 20,000 suppliers only a few (i.e. 100) will merit engagement from a strategic perspective. As a result, there is going to be a continuing need for what was referred to as “low-level” buyers. However, the same individual concluded that “one strategic business thinker with the right skills and capabilities is worth 10 or 12 of your normal, run-of-the-mill purchasing people.”
This indicates that some companies confine their purchasing departments to a narrowly defined functional role versus being a strategic contributor. While I do not have specific data regarding the percentage of organizations that operate under this misconception, the consequences of doing so can be catastrophic.
Here is today’s LinkedIn post from KPMG’s Tanya Wade about the 22 Procurement Core Skills for 2030. Her post immediately brought to mind the above 2007 article.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Tanya’s grid (and similar lists) can be useful as complements—communication, data literacy, ESG fluency all matter. The failure comes when they’re used as substitutes for procurement’s native competencies and when organizations don’t demand runtime evidence that the skills change outcomes.
The 2007 Hansen article provides chilling validation that Tanya’s 2030 skills framework represents the exact “assimilation vs. expansion” problem Hansen warned about 18 years ago.
The Prophetic Accuracy of the 2007 Analysis
Hansen’s Core Warning Realized
There is a significant difference between expansion and assimilation in that expansion acknowledges that purchasing can have a broader role in the organization’s overall success while still recognizing and working within its unique operating framework. Assimilation, on the other hand, tends to view procurement as an adjunct of a core practice.
Tanya’s framework exhibits classic assimilation characteristics – positioning procurement professionals as generalists who master technology tools rather than developing indigenous procurement capabilities.
The “Class Distinction” Problem Persists
One strategic business thinker with the right skills and capabilities is worth 10 or 12 of your normal, run-of-the-mill purchasing people.
Tanya’s framework reinforces this hierarchy by positioning AI collaboration and ESG integration as elite skills while relegating traditional procurement capabilities to the “Out-of-Focus” zone.
Direct Parallels: 2007 Warnings vs. 2025 Reality
The “Generalist vs. Specialist” Debate
In 2007, Hansen identified that procurement is becoming more of a profession for generalists, rather than specialists, due to problematic assimilation thinking.
2024 Tanya inadvertently promotes cross-functional skills (ESG, AI, value chain risk) without corresponding emphasis on deep procurement expertise – exactly the generalist approach Hansen warned against.
The “Business Language” Trap
2007 Context: People who come from business… and therefore understand the business language were valued over procurement professionals.
2025 Reality: Tanya’s framework emphasizes stakeholder communication and commercial curiosity but lacks emphasis on procurement-specific diagnostic capabilities that the Hansen methodology requires.
Critical Missing Elements from a 2007 Perspective
Indigenous Procurement Capabilities
The 2007 article emphasizes the importance of maintaining a “unique operating framework” and indigenous attributes. Tanya’s framework lacks:
The Catastrophic Consequences Warning
The consequences of doing so can be catastrophic – Hansen provided examples of power supply failures and lead paint recalls where procurement expertise could have prevented disasters.
Tanya’s framework doesn’t address risk identification through procurement expertise but rather risk monitoring through technology tools.
The Talent Development Contradiction
2007 Question Still Unanswered
Are the only individuals who possess the capability to run the procurement department of the future the ones who do not think of themselves as being procurement professionals?
2025 Framework Implications
Tanya’s skills grid suggests that traditional procurement capabilities are becoming obsolete, replaced by business generalist skills – precisely the concerning trend Hansen identified.
Hansen’s 18-Year Vindication
The Credibility Question
It is really a question of credibility. In which individual would the CEO and board have the greatest level of confidence?
Hansen’s 2007 analysis predicted that organizations would continue favoring business generalists over procurement specialists, leading to systematic implementation failures.
The Development vs. Acquisition Problem
If an organization fails to invest in developing its leaders from within, then it is likely that it will look to someone outside of the corporation.
Tanya’s framework emphasizes acquiring new skills rather than developing indigenous procurement capabilities – perpetuating the external dependency that Hansen warned against.
Bottom Line Assessment
The 2007 article reveals that Tanya’s 2030 framework represents 18 years of continued assimilation rather than learning from Hansen’s warnings. Despite technological evolution, the fundamental tension between procurement expertise and business generalist capabilities remains unresolved.
Hansen’s methodology suggests that organizations following Tanya’s framework will continue to experience implementation failures because they’re optimizing for cross-functional acceptability rather than procurement transformation effectiveness.
The 2007 article essentially predicted that frameworks like Tanya’s would emerge – and that they would perpetuate the same systematic problems that Hansen has documented across nearly two decades of procurement transformation analysis.
Model 5’s reading tracks with the Procurement Insights record: when procurement is assimilated into generic “future skills,” organizations look modern yet keep failing the same way. The fix isn’t to reject those skills—it’s to anchor them to indigenous capabilities and demand runtime evidence that they improve real flows. That’s the Hansen Method’s edge, and it’s the standard to hold any 2030 skills framework to.
TODAY’S TAKEAWAY: What are the skills that procurement professionals should be developing in 2025 for today and the future? I will cover that in the next post.
30
BONUS COVERAGE
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