Control freak. It conjures up a picture of a manipulative puppeteer. But is it always a bad trait? Purchasing managers might beg to differ with people who attach negative attributes to the control freak label. That’s because taking a sincere and highly focused approach to the tasks at hand leads to the greatest chance of success. And if success is your goal (if it isn’t why are you here?), you want the approach that will get you there quickly and cleanly.

 It’s like so many things we encounter in life: As long as it’s done in moderation, it’ll be effective and even cost-efficient.

There are five benefits to allowing your inner control freak to step up and assume the reins for a while:

1. Control freaks are more focused in their thinking. There’s no gray — it’s all black and white.
2. Control freaks feel they have one mission: Get the job done. No need for pie-in-the-sky planning or retrospective follow-up.
3. Control freaks don’t wait for anyone or anything. There’s one purpose: Take positive action steps to achieve the given goal or purpose.
4. Control freaks have one speed: Their own.
5. Control freaks can be the constant in a shifting Procurement/Purchasing environment. Other team members are secure in knowing the resident control freak is looking out for them and for everything else that’s going on. This takes pressure off the other team members.

There’s a time and a place for micromanagement. Many times, control freaks are only seeking to control themselves, to define their own behavior. They’re also seeking to bend the environment or circumstances ever so slightly, to facilitate those actions.

Would you want a team loaded with control freaks? Of course not. But it’s not always a bad idea to have at least one on board.

Tags: procurement, purchasing