What Would Feynman Do?

Leaving a career legacy is about more than just the work you've accomplished—it's about the lives you've touched, the paths you've cleared, and the inspiration you've sparked in others. 

It's about leaving behind a footprint of excellence, integrity, and compassion that continues to resonate long after you've moved on. Your legacy is a testament to your unwavering commitment to making a difference, to pushing boundaries, and to leading by example. It's a legacy built on the foundation of hard work, resilience, and a relentless pursuit to pay it forward. 

Vivek has led an incredible life - his experiences are unique and he has found a way to weave all of them together to create an incredible legacy that will be a beacon of light for future generations. 

A shy kid turned confident speaker. A musician turned software engineer, turned Procurement Rockstar who got his negotiation skills from his mother.  

I wish to leave a legacy where folks understand and realize the great value of really “owning” the procurement profession, of practicing it with excellence and dedication – and that applies across the supply chain to salespeople as well! At the same time where integrity, genuineness, and kindness are valued and practiced. And to top it off, a culture of mentorship and sharing exists.

With over twenty years of experience across industries like Internet, Technology, Insurance, Financial Services, Manufacturing, and Entertainment. Vivek has done it all! He has a natural gift for building strong relationships and strategic partnerships and is a networking master. Vivek's leadership, guidance, and support of his teammates, partners, and clients should be a masterclass for anyone who wants to inspire and lead with integrity.

Vivek's curious spirit has provided him with one of the most diverse backgrounds I've ever heard of, Physics, Music, Procurement, Engineering, Photography, and probably a few others.  The photographs in this article are the work of Vivek. Enjoy! 

TPG: What did you want to be when you were growing up?

VS: My formative years were spent in Calcutta, India. I spent many years playing the violin as part of two orchestras in the city. Up until my mid-teens, I had visions of becoming a concert violinist. But with the increased focus on academics in high school, my career interest quickly switched to the sciences, Physics in particular. After pursuing Physics in college and excelling, I briefly considered becoming a research physicist. However, my fascination for computer science and problem-solving made me change course a little, and so I started my career in the software engineering field, right around the turn of the millennium.

 TPG: How did early experiences in life prepare you for procurement?

 VS: I was extremely shy as a child. At the age of nine, I attended a classical music concert, and it had the most profound impact on me. Apart from the beautiful music which was so moving, I was fascinated by the perfect unison of all the violinists playing, and the incredible power and control of the conductor – he was able to elicit the most amazing responses from the orchestra just by the subtle movements of his baton. It was a language that needed no interpretation. It was only much later that I recognized the structure and mechanics of the Western classical orchestra were very much like that of the procurement world around us. The various sections of an orchestra (violins, cellos, wind section, percussion, bass, etc.) are just like the various functions and business units of a modern organization (like marketing, operations, IT, HR, risk, legal, etc.), and procurement is undoubtedly the conductor in this melee, ensuring all areas coordinate to make the final product (the contract) complete.

Back to being a nine-year-old boy, I begged my parents to let me take up playing the violin. Over the next ten or so years, I spent many an afternoon painstakingly practicing my instrument – that too by choice. Those years of hard work and discipline bore fruit – I went on to pass with distinction the advanced levels of music with the Royal School of Music (London) – and got the opportunity to play at various events and concerts in orchestra, and even on radio and on television. So, what does this have to do with procurement? Several things: i) Hard work, discipline, and having a great work ethic were instilled in me from a very young age. These are qualities that are not unique to procurement but are critical in the development and growth of all procurement professionals – and frankly – needed just to do a good job all around. ii) Working with a big orchestra to practice a difficult piece over time, harmonize with all the other instruments, and deliver a final product at the concert is remarkably like working in procurement on a complex project with multiple stakeholders to deliver that final contract or process improvement.

I would occasionally go to the nearby open market to buy groceries and things with my mother. This was like a farmer's market setup but with permanent stalls. Prices were never displayed anywhere. Everything I ever learned about negotiation I learned from my mother! She was an expert at the art of getting what she wanted. Be it her skill of not committing to any one seller in the early stages of evaluation. Or her uncanny way of remembering that she had paid a lesser price the last time. Or her expert stance of pretending to walk away just to see if the seller had room for improvement. Or simply at working out a fair deal when it came to the barebones calculation. Everything was negotiable. My mother taught me that conflict is good, as it pushes the envelope to ensure a better outcome for all. As long as it was done amicably. One final thing, she was never ready to settle. If she could not find whatever she wanted, she did not just settle for the next best thing. Especially if it was something important. She strove to find that product that fit her needs, whether it meant going to a completely different market in another part of town to try her luck. And she always found what she wanted! These are all directly transferable traits and skills that I have learned way before I ever made it to the procurement world.

I have always had a fascination for solving puzzles (lateral thinking or logic) and have even had my original puzzles published in the Telegraph newspaper (Sunday edition) back in my university days. This problem-solving trait was what attracted me to physics and Feynman of course. Which also had a huge influence on me throughout my career, and I believe is also very helpful in the procurement space.

TPG: Was there ever a time when you wanted to leave Procurement?

VS: The only time when I was not happy and wanted to leave was many years back when I found myself in an unproductive environment, where there was too much office politics, and everyone was walking around on eggshells.

There was no freedom for folks to be empowered, and no room for making mistakes. I am not sure if it was a trait of the industry in which the company was in, the culture of the organization, or just the department. But something had to give. The good thing is that I didn’t want to leave procurement, just that situation. Things usually have a way of happening for the best, perhaps it’s the way the universe works, and so not long afterward I came across an opportunity that was a dream job, so I took it, and the rest, as they say, is history. Oh and of course that was still in procurement!

TPG: When did you experience your first win?

VS: Early on in my procurement journey, I was once returning from a vacation home to India. I vividly remember being at the Departures area of the international terminal at New Delhi airport, waiting for my flight to take off. It was almost midnight, and the shops were mostly all closed. I was ravenous and spotted one window that was still open and rushed towards it. The stall was selling famous Dosa, a well-known savory crepe dish from South India. Except – the ‘Open’ neon light had just been switched off, and the man in the window was about to close it. I looked around, I was the only customer in sight. I quickly asked the man if I could have one last Dosa before getting on my plane – he said that the kitchen had just closed.  I told him that I was really hungry, that I wanted to have one last authentic Indian meal before I left for the US, and that I would only be back after a couple of years. I wanted the taste of Dosa from his shop to be the last memory of my trip, the perfect blend of batter, potato, and veg filling in Indian spices cooked to a crisp. Yes, I could probably get it in the US, but that taste just would not be the same. The man paused for a few seconds, but something about my story, plight, and compelling argument moved the man, and he proceeded to switch the grill back on and make me one last Dosa for the night. Needless to say, that was one of the most fulfilling meals I have ever had and one that kept me warm both in body and spirit for a long while.

Granted this is more an example of a negotiation win than a complex procurement, but it did teach me that it is up to us procurement folks to make sure that our story is heard, and not simply accept the status quo. Whatever the situation, it is the human element and the people in the transaction that will make the difference and give it true meaning.

TPG: What skills have you gained working in procurement?

VS: I was very fortunate that my first job in procurement with a Fortune 250 company allowed me to experience many different aspects of procurement and hence gave me a very well-rounded overview of procurement. In a span of eight years, I went through five very different roles in quick succession. I had the good fortune of learning everything from sourcing and category management, supplier negotiations, functional excellence, and process improvement, to procurement/system implementations, to category strategy to managing the management dashboard and KPIs and delivering on them globally. Getting a great grounding in many aspects of procurement helped me immensely and set me up well for when I went to start a purchasing department from the ground up later on in my career.

Then in other roles and more recently, I also got to hone my skills interacting with many other stakeholders and executives.

Apart from the technical skills already mentioned, I believe over the years in procurement I have become better at the following: Getting the job done no matter what, figuring out what is important and not losing focus, negotiations (internal and external stakeholders), juggling multiple projects, public speaking with confidence, having an executive presence, management execution, and mentoring.

 TPG: Was there a specific person who inspired the type of professional that you wanted to become?

VS: Richard Feynman has been my guru and source of inspiration over much of my lifetime. For the uninitiated, he was an American theoretical physicist, the 1965 Nobel Prize winner in Physics. He is also known as the person who virtually single-handedly solved the puzzle of the 1986 Challenger space shuttle explosion.

I first got to know of Feynman while I was in college, studying Physics. His ‘Feynman’s Lectures in Physics series was an international bestseller. But what was most interesting about the man was not the physics or his sheer genius. It was everything else about him. To start with, Feynman was known as a great explainer. He had an incredible ability to explain complex concepts in layman’s terms, not necessarily about physics but in general about the world around us (illustrated brilliantly in his book “The Pleasure of Finding Things Out”). His curiosity about how the world worked was infectious, and he always had a childlike approach to life. This enabled him to explore new frontiers without prejudice or any preconceived ideas. For example, he taught himself fine art at the age of 45 and went on to have exhibitions (you can find Feynman’s sketches online). He was a man of character, displayed by marrying his sweetheart Arline anyway, even though she had been diagnosed with Tuberculosis ( a very infectious disease without a cure then) and everyone had advised him otherwise. Feynman also was brilliant amongst his peers and got a reputation of being able to solve seemingly difficult problems, be it mathematics or everyday life situations. Which is why he was selected to be on the panel that investigated the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, and eventually solved it. He was a very genuine person, never liked awards or titles, and did not believe something just because everyone else did. He was a thinker, a man of integrity, and he had an amazing sense of humor.

The first principle is that you must not fool yourself – and you are the easiest person to fool. - Richard Feynman

TPG: What is it about Richard Feynman that has and continues to inspire you?

VS: I guess it is his creativity, his genius, his ability to solve complex problems and explain them in layman's terms, and his courage to think for himself and to call something out if it was fake even if it was unpopular. His integrity and his sense of humor. I like to think that I can be a version of Feynman in my daily job and life. “What would Feynman do?” is the question I always ask myself!

 Two of the best books I have ever read are Feynman’s best sellers:

Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!: Adventures of a Curious Character and

What Do You Care What Other People Think?: Further Adventures of a Curious Character”.

video of a tribute I gave to Richard Feynman at Toastmasters back in 2014 at the Warner Bros Toastmasters club in Burbank, California.

TPG: I know that you are passionate about storytelling - why is that an important skill for procurement pros to leverage?

VS: My wife is an economist and an adjunct professor at various universities. Frequently she will use everyday situations, current events, and real-world examples to explain fundamental economic concepts to her students. Many a time we have discussed these analogies and stories at the dinner table. I have seen how a drab and potentially confusing economic concept is magically rendered simple and easy to understand by just creating a relatable story. The same applies to the procurement world.

Stories, when constructed thoughtfully and simply, can change the listener’s opinion, as well as inspire audiences. The storytelling skill is critical to develop and use for procurement pros – especially since much of procurement is about selling ideas, whether to your functional stakeholders, your suppliers, or your CFO and executive leaders. Indeed, any procurement project, be it sourcing, contract negotiation, process improvement, supplier relationship management, stakeholder engagement, or anything in between, will benefit from thinking of the journey as a story. If you can develop a story around the objectives, benefits, constraints, and participants, and make it relatable and meaningful to your audience, then you will undoubtedly have more engagement and an easier time getting buy-in from them. Telling a story shows that you have a passion for your subject and that you care, and that in turn will make them care.

Lastly, it would be remiss of me if I didn’t plug the resource and support structure that made a huge difference for me and was instrumental in making me a believer in storytelling. I have been a member of Toastmasters for over 15 years, and I would not be where I am without it. Being a part of Toastmasters over the years has allowed me to develop my storytelling skills, build up my confidence while speaking in a safe space, and even practice pitching ideas and presentations. I have had to present in front of executive leadership on numerous occasions and believe me, you will know when you are ready - when you no longer feel the butterflies in your stomach before a big presentation! That’s the icing on the cake!

TPG: What do you think needs to change in Procurement?

VS: Owning the profession:

A few years ago, right before the pandemic, I was on a procurement panel where the topic was:” Is it R.I.P. for the RFP?” First, I am not sure how or why the topic was selected. And then, it seemed (at the time) like I was a lone voice on the panel who was convinced that the RFP was not dead. The RFP IS not dead. Show me a person who says the RFP is a tool that’s archaic and not relevant anymore, and I will show you someone who does not understand the essence of the RFP process, who has not taken the time to craft a compelling and robust RFP, someone who cannot stay the course and resorts to a quick fix, probably with a checklist mentality. No cutting corners, no easy fixes, no shortcuts. Now I would be the first person to tell you that the RFP is no magic bullet; it could be time-consuming and complicated. But guess what, the RFP can also be made efficient while being robust, and comprehensive but relevant. We do not need excessively bureaucratic processes like RFPs that take 12 months. A balance is needed. The saying goes “a bad workman blames his tools”. I would even argue that the RFP is not simply a tool, but a methodology – proven over decades - that may be adapted according to the needs of the business. The success of the RFP lies in the hands of the procurement professional, and his/her ability to respond to the needs of the business and the resources available to design the best outcome.

 So, in summary, a crucial thing that needs to change in Procurement is a shift in the mentality of procurement professionals toward ‘owning’ their profession. Stick to the fundamentals, do your homework, understand, and use the tools as intended, and make the profession proud.

 A couple of additional things that I think would be great to change for the better:

Doing the right thing:

Procurement is where fiscal responsibility, accountability, and transparency should begin. If we are to ensure that everyone that we interact with (business stakeholders, suppliers, etc.) is above board, then we need to be a shining example. This goes without saying, but procurement ethics should not be just a checklist to tick off at the time of conducting an RFP. It should be lived and breathed, be a way of life, including when interacting with stakeholders internal and external alike, at ALL times.

Paying it forward:

I frequently hear folks at procurement conferences lamenting that good talent in the market is scarce, and yet those same folks do nothing about it. The best way to ensure that good talent exists everywhere is to ensure that it is developed consistently and systematically. Procurement pros should be good (and I mean genuine) mentors for folks, even if there is nothing in it for themselves. Consistently and over time. We owe it to the industry. To ourselves. What goes around comes around. It’s just good karma!

TPG: A lot of Procurement is about following the rules - how do you know when it's time to lean in and challenge the status quo?

VS: While sticking to procurement fundamentals is very important, I completely agree that one should not be complacent and should challenge the status quo. One critical component of the procurement role is the interactions one has with suppliers and salespeople, both for existing suppliers and potentially new suppliers. Communication is a two-way street of course, and hence a successful interaction between procurement and salespersons needs to have both parties contributing. While there are ample ways for procurement pros to sharpen their game, I have been a bit underwhelmed over the years by how some salespeople cut corners and just get by. This is more than just a fad, and I believe has become the status quo, unfortunately, for a lot of salespeople. Don’t get me wrong, there are a good number of stellar salespeople, but I will be blunt and say that the numbers are dwindling, and it is always a breath of fresh air to meet a stellar salesperson. So I guess the way procurement pros should challenge the status quo is not to settle for mediocre sales and supplier performance, but to inspire all stakeholders, salespeople as well, to do a stellar job.

I know this sounds like a rant, and it probably is. But you will understand how passionately I believe it as I even developed a speech on this topic back in 2016, titled “The case against mediocre salespeople” I am delivering the speech at the Warner Bros. Toastmasters club in Burbank, California.

TPG: What if leadership doesn't care about procurement? What have you done to change the perception?

VS: Not all leaders are aware of the role that procurement plays and the value that procurement brings. Leadership not caring about procurement is usually due to a lack of awareness and lack of engagement with procurement. The maturity and success of a procurement function are directly correlated to how the organization's leadership views and cares about procurement. Does leadership understand the role of procurement and the value it brings, and consequently is leadership committed to supporting procurement, and have they bought into procurement? Therefore, has the procurement person in charge engaged with leadership, provided awareness, and made the case for procurement?

Show me a procurement pro who says that their leadership doesn’t care, and I will show you a procurement pro who has not taken the time to engage their leadership, not provided awareness, and indeed not provided value. It is completely a missed opportunity. It is 100% the responsibility of the procurement pro to engage with their leadership and make them care.

Earlier in my career, when I was part of a massive procurement team within a Fortune 250 company, I once had a meeting with a project team, and the sponsor of the project was the Chief Administration Officer. Before the meeting, I took it upon myself to do some additional research and spend analysis on the suppliers that the team used. So after the project status update, with 10 minutes left on the clock, I provided a couple of slides/charts providing the spend analysis. Top 20% of suppliers, Distribution of spend, Trends, etc. The CAO was amazed and thanked me profusely. It was eye-opening for her, as it was different from the standard financial numbers she was used to. Later, she provided positive feedback to the head of procurement, and also to other executives about the value of procurement. She also asked me to provide some additional reports and assistance, which was a very positive thing.

 In my current role and organization, I report to the CFO. Right from day one, I have made sure that I have engaged with him and have been assured his buy-in. This has also translated to buy-in from the CEO and other executives – although that bond needs to be enhanced and maintained over time. It should never be taken for granted.

TPG: What kind of career legacy do you want to leave?

VS:

• While one’s procurement-related skills, expertise, and brilliance are well and good, at the end of the day, HOW one goes about conducting themselves is much more important. As Maya Angelou says: “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."
• My mother’s favorite Shakespearean quote was “To thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man.” Being genuine and having integrity is something very important to me
• I take deep pride in mentoring up-and-coming procurement pros. Over the years, folks have come to me to be mentored often, not just in procurement by across other areas as well, and I would like to think that it has had some positive impact. That is something I would like to continue.

And so at the end of the day, I wish to leave a legacy where folks understand and realize the great value of really “owning” the procurement profession, of practicing it with excellence and dedication – and that applies across the supply chain to salespeople as well! At the same time where integrity, genuineness, and kindness are valued and practiced. And to top it off, a culture of mentorship and sharing exists.

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The mission of this Newsletter is to inspire Procurement Pros to stay in the fight. To keep pushing because it matters. It’s hard, and it never stops, but it is worth it. Procurement doesn't get all the awards and praise, but I've met with enough Procurement Rock Stars to know that the goal isn't the praise. The goal is to ensure the work that procurement does today sticks and lasts beyond their tenure.

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Rock on!