“Failure and success are two sides of the same coin every time. How you treat failure and how you treat success will dictate both how fast and how far you can go. When you fail and it is reasonable, embrace it, because if you are taking risks, you are going to fail.”

- Blake Tablak, CEO of Trax Technologies

The sheer volume of data we have access to has exploded in the last few decades. What we used to be able to hold in our hands, like grains of sand, has now turned into an entire beach of data points that organizations have to manage. Of course, along with that, has come an explosion of digital solutions and emerging technologies like AI that can help procurement and supply chain professionals manage and make meaning out of their vast data sets.

How to make good decisions

In a recent episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, host Kelly Barner spoke with Blake Tablak, CEO of Trax Technologies, a company that provides transportation spend management visibility for freight audit and payment solutions.

Blake’s perspective on ‘big’ data as the foundation of good decision making and his attunement to the risk inherent in working with large data sets can help procurement understand how to let go of ‘bad’ or risky habits when it comes to data management while also becoming more effective, efficient, and smart with how to use data as a key business driver.

Procurement can use large data sets to understand which risky behaviors should be avoided and how to make good decisions based on that data in order to become more effective and efficient.

Keep end goals in mind

First, says Blake, procurement has to “figure out what their end goal is with the data.” Having this kind of north star will ensure that the right amount or type of data is being collected and that no data goes to waste. 

“When I think about the outcome of something, or the data I want to store, I think about the outcome first. I don’t want it all. It is worthless and will just muddy the waters, but what are the outcomes that I want? Start with storing that data,” said Blake. Once this is clear, the inevitable next step is to normalize and then augment the data in order to derive meaningful insights and concrete actions from the data.

Don't leave your experiences at the door

Having access to clean, reliable, and relevant data is only the beginning of optimized decision making, though. As Blake says, it is often overlooked as a key part of the process, but personal experience and procurement’s own opinions are also invaluable points along the decision making journey. 

“Don’t leave your experience at the door,” said Blake. “A lot of people leave their experience behind and think, ‘I don’t know if my opinion matters here.’ It does! When I’m working with our procurement team, I want your opinion. I want to know what you have seen.”

This interplay between data and experience helps to de-risk decision making, especially when making tough choices in the midst of uncertainty.

Company culture plays a part

When faced with risk, uncertainty, and the possibility of failure, company culture can determine not only how decisions are made but also how the team turns those failures (and successes) into valuable learning and growth opportunities for the business as a whole.  

“Failure and success are two sides of the same coin every time,” said Blake. “How you treat failure and how you treat success will dictate both how fast and how far you can go. When you fail and it is reasonable, embrace it, because if you are taking risks, you are going to fail.”

Learn from the past

Learning from decisions made – whether big or small, failed or successful – is a key part of strengthening that decision making culture and process. “In a good culture, you have to celebrate the wins and unpack them in the same way you would unpack and celebrate the failures. You just have to figure out the difference between ‘good’ failure and ‘bad’ failure.”

One of the riskiest decisions the business can make and that puts them on a path to ‘bad’ failure, is doing nothing, says Blake. Inaction has been the death knell for many formerly-strong brands (think Blockbuster or Redbox). In most scenarios doing nothing will result in the kind of failure that’s impossible to recover from. 

“Very few decisions you will make are as risky as you think they are – almost none of them. But one thing that is awful is staying where you are, especially if you’re under ‘attack’ or your product is having problems or your competitors are getting a leg up on you. Doing nothing is 100% the riskiest thing you can do,” said Blake. 

Blake says true ‘sourcing heroes’ and strong business leaders will have the courage to make decisions – leaning on that combination of data and human experience – even in the face of risk or uncertainty or fear. 

“Heroism in business is making decisions when it’s scary to make that decision – and almost all decisions are scary,” said Blake. “But more people should feel confident and encouraged to move forward, rather than feeling terrified and staying where they are. … The people who are heroes for me are the ones that make little decisions here and there and keep doing it. They keep pressing forward, and when they fail, they don’t quit, they learn.”

For more, listen to the full conversation here: