As observed from the procurement evaluator's desk
Law 1: The Law of Poor Planning
"Rushing to market always ends in tears"
- Business stakeholders demand impossible timeframes
- Requirements are rushed and poorly defined
- Market engagement is skipped or compressed
- Evaluation criteria are developed without proper testing
- Governance approvals are assumed rather than confirmed
Impact: Emergency extensions to incumbent contracts while the tender is re-run
Law 2: The Law of Stakeholder Chaos
"Everyone becomes an expert after the tender closes"
- Key stakeholders aren't identified until too late
- Requirements gathering excludes critical users
- Subject matter experts are unavailable during evaluation
- Senior stakeholders override evaluation outcomes
- End users reject the selected solution
Impact: Selected suppliers fail to get final approval, forcing process restart
Law 3: The Law of Requirements Ambiguity
"Unclear requirements guarantee unclear responses"
- Business needs expressed as solution specifications
- Mandatory requirements that aren't truly mandatory
- Inconsistencies between sections
- Evaluation criteria that can't be objectively scored
- Weighted criteria that don't reflect true priorities
Impact: Unable to differentiate responses or defend scores
Law 4: The Law of Budget Denial
"The budget exists in a parallel universe to requirements"
- Budget set before requirements are understood
- Market rates not validated before tender
- Internal costs excluded from calculations
- Implementation costs overlooked
- Lifecycle costs ignored in favor of purchase price
Impact: All responses exceed budget, forcing scope reduction
Law 5: The Law of Evaluation Dysfunction
"We'll figure out how to evaluate when responses arrive"
- Evaluation teams assembled after tender release
- Scoring guides developed after responses received
- Evaluators not trained in scoring methodology
- Inconsistent scoring between evaluators
- Insufficient time allocated for evaluation
Impact: Evaluation delays and scoring challenges
Law 6: The Law of Incumbent Advantage
"The incumbent knows more than we do"
- Current state poorly documented
- Incumbent-specific terminology in requirements
- Data gaps in market briefings
- Transition risks understated
- Incumbent knowledge not effectively transferred
Impact: Non-incumbent suppliers can't compete effectively
Law 7: The Law of Risk Amnesia
"Previous project failures are ignored"
- Known delivery risks not addressed in requirements
- Previous implementation failures not analyzed
- Standard risk matrices copy-pasted
- Risk allocation not market-tested
- Contract terms don't reflect real risk profile
Impact: Selected supplier fails to deliver, repeating history
Law 8: The Law of Probity Paralysis
"Process trumps outcome"
- Over-correction from previous probity issues
- Communication channels unnecessarily restricted
- Clarification opportunities limited
- Innovation stifled by rigid compliance
- Commercial opportunities missed due to process fear
Impact: Best value solutions excluded on technical grounds
Law 9: The Law of Governance Bypass
"Approval bodies become rubber stamps"
- Governance bodies engaged too late
- Approval requirements not understood
- Documentation not fit for governance purpose
- Risk appetite of approvers not considered
- Politics overlooked in planning
Impact: Last-minute governance rejections
Law 10: The Law of Contract Amnesia
"The contract is remembered after signing"
- Contract outcomes not linked to tender requirements
- Performance measures not properly tested
- Contract management resources not secured
- Transition requirements understated
- Contract terms conflict with proposed solutions
Impact: Unenforceable contracts and poor supplier performance
The Procurement Meta-Law: Political Convenience
"Procurement gets blamed for business indecision"
Underlying many tender failures is the use of procurement to solve non-procurement problems: delaying business decisions, avoiding stakeholder conflict, deferring budget discussions, managing internal politics, and avoiding accountability.
Using These Laws in Practice
- Use as a tender planning checklist
- Build into procurement quality assurance
- Include in briefings to business stakeholders
- Incorporate in procurement team training
- Reference when pushing back on timeframes
Warning Signs
- "We'll firm up the requirements during evaluation"
- "The incumbent can help us write the specification"
- "We can start evaluation while waiting for approvals"
- "The business stakeholders are too busy to engage"
- "We can fix any issues during contract negotiations"
The key takeaway is to address these issues before tendering, rather than hoping they'll resolve during the process itself.
