Half of the approval layers exist because someone important wanted to feel important. Here is why!
- Gaurav Sharma
- Oct 30
- 2 min read
Walk into any Procurement team and ask, “Who needs to approve $50k purchase?” You will get answers like
- Category Head or Procurement Director
- And, the Finance head
- May be CFO, if this is “strategic”
- and Legal, if a contract is required. Oh, yes! Dont forget the NDA.
- and Compliance to screen the vendor
- and IT lead if there is any tech component!
6 approvals for 50k! Here are some of the things that no one wants to say out loud:
- The majority of the people didn’t actually review it. Some saw the email, some skimmed over it and clicked “Approve”, and rejecting it will create “Extra work”. Clicking “Approve” clears my To-do!
This isn’t governance. It’s called Signature collection.
A.) Here is a story of how we get here.
Year 1: Someone buys something expensive that doesn’t sit well with the CFO. Like $30k on expensive office decor! CFO is upset.
Solution: “From Now On, all office purchases require CFO approval over $10k”
Year 3: Someone buys $100k on software that no one uses.
Solution: “Ok, IT Director must sign off on all Tech Purchases.”
Year 5: A $50k contract had a bad contract term.
Solution: “Legal should review all contracts from now on.”
You see, these are incremental changes, which you think are a solution, but are adding layers and layers of bureaucracy!
B.) Real Cost of Approval Theater
- You make decisions in weeks (or months), whereas your competitor moves in days because someone from the legal team is away for 2 weeks!
- When six people approve something, no one is responsible. Multiple signatures dont distribute responsibility, they dissolve it.
- The most damaging portion: You didn’t hire the best in class talent to be paper pushers! They want to negotiate complex deals, build supplier strategies, and manage those risks! Instead, they are chasing approvals and explaining the same purchase for the 5th time! So irritating!
C.) The Brutal Truth: The Ego Problem
Half of the approval layers exist because someone important wanted to feel important especially, when the demonstration of authority is by approval rights. “This can not be done without my approval” kind of cases!
Sounds decisive. It is actually insecurity!
D.) Some Ideas for Solution:
Design the decision-making system according to expertise (who can evaluate the decision).
Bad System: “The VP needs to approve this because it’s over $100K.”
Good System: An Expertise-based governance:
“The subject matter expert needs to approve this because they understand the technical requirements, market pricing, and risk factors.”
Sometimes that SME is an analyst. Sometimes it’s the VP. Hierarchy is a tie-breaker, not a decision-making framework.
Redesign for Minimum Viable Governance!
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