BEFORE THE PRODUCT, SUPPLIER OR DESTINATION
The first question isn't “What should we buy?”
People often arrive with a solution already in mind.
“We need a new phone system.”
“We need an RFP.”
“We need a CRM.”
"We need a flight"
“We need a hotel.”
“We need a cruise.”
Sometimes that assumption is exactly right. Sometimes it is simply the most obvious answer to a problem that has not been fully defined yet.
I prefer to begin one step earlier: What are you trying to make happen?
That question gives us room to understand the problem before allowing a product, supplier, technology, destination, or purchasing process to define the answer.
Start with the outcome. Let the requirements tell us what belongs in the solution.
FROM QUESTION TO PATH FORWARD
A structured process without making the process heavier than the decision.
The process should bring clarity to the decision—not become another source of complexity.
HOW I COMPARE THE OPTIONS
The Five-Star Method helps frame the tradeoffs.
The Five-Star Method is the evaluation framework I use within the broader process. It helps prevent a decision from being reduced to one feature, one price, or one persuasive sales presentation.
- Resilience
- Performance
- Flexibility
- Operational Excellence
- Business Value
BRING IN THE RIGHT EXPERTISE
The right partner becomes useful when the requirement is clear.
I do not need to be the deepest expert in every technology, destination, supplier category, or specialized discipline.
My role is to understand the situation well enough to recognize what expertise is needed, who may be able to provide it, and when bringing that expertise into the conversation becomes useful.
Sometimes the right next step is research. Sometimes it is a supplier introduction, specialist, quote, demo, itinerary, or another conversation.
The objective isn't to add more people to the process. It's to bring in the right people when they can move the outcome forward.
APPLY THE PROCESS
Start with the area you're working in
Business Technology
Turn technical complexity into a business decision by defining the outcome, understanding the environment, narrowing the options, and coordinating the right expertise.
Business, Group & Premium Travel
Match the trip to the people and purpose by understanding the travelers, narrowing the possibilities, and coordinating the details that make the experience work.
START WHERE YOU ARE
You don't need to have the solution figured out before we talk.
Bring the problem, the opportunity, the decision, or even the messy version of the question. We can start by figuring out what you are actually trying to accomplish and what would make the next step useful.