It takes a special type of person to bring perspective

By Jim Morgan, editorial director emeritus -- Purchasing, 5/18/2000

One of the few advantages that go with achieving emeritus status is the ability to observe issues in perspective. But for the everyday purchasing professional this is a luxury that's hard to come by. Such issues as downsized supply bases, strategic sourcing, supply chain management, the replacement of manual transaction processing with electronic tools all seem to demand being dealt with as separate entities. Into this environment people with some unique or specialized knowledge often emerge as instant gurus.

It was on this account that I was especially pleased with Publisher Jack O'Connor's decision to appoint Douglas A. Smock as editor-in-chief of Purchasing Magazine. (Doug will replace Kevin Fitzgerald who is leaving the magazine to take an executive position in an Internet start-up venture.)

I was pleased because Doug is no stranger to the industrial purchasing scene. Many readers in the process industries, for instance, are already well acquainted with Doug's well-reasoned writings in CPI Purchasing (now a part of Purchasing) or with his detailed stories about developments in the plastics industries. Doug has served with distinction over the years as editor-in-chief of both CPI Purchasing and Plastics World Magazines and has won awards for his editorial accomplishments. He also served as a very effective news editor for this magazine.

It's very easy, of course, to write about the professionalism of a guy like Doug Smock, but most of the words about jobs well done don't really throw much light on what really makes a guy like Doug tick. I was looking for some such words when my wife reminded me of an incident that occurred in the summer of 1981.

In trying to paint the eaves of my house I had managed to slide down the side of the house and land-ladder, paint, and all-on a concrete pavement breaking a shoulder bone, a leg bone, and generally smearing paint all over everything.

Doug wasn't especially solicitous about my self-inflicted wounds. He neither consoled nor lectured me. Instead, he offered to repaint the area of the house I had devastated. He saw what he could do to help and he did it. As an editor he acts the same way. He's one of those special people who seeks out perspective and then does what needs to be done.

I have spent many enjoyable hours working with both editors-

Welcome home Doug. Good luck Kevin.