Road Trip!! To Double Secret Probation.

The seven-year old got the New Year off to a bang-up start. Upon receiving the customary flute of sparkling apple juice, he immediately began to chant "Jug! Jug! Jug! Jug!"

Two things were evident at once. One, the parental control feature on the cable system was failing, and he had obviously been watching something on the order of Toga Party - Sorority Girls Gone Wild.

The other was that he had no clue regarding either the primary or secondary implication of what he was chanting.

As we continue to get deeper into the uncertain new era of collaboration in the supply chain world, I see some very similar misunderstandings. It is now in fashion to say "colaboration", but only a few really understand the depth and complexity of what collaboration means in genuine business relationships.

Further, "relationships" are still too-often thought to mean liberal applications of dinner, drinks, and dollies approximately four times a year. Or worse, a history of adversarial transactions going back several years. Or, personal connections between someone in Sales with someone on the other side in Purchasing.

We need to get real in this universe of 21st-century global competition. The old models, roughly equivalent in their subtleties to Dick and Jane See Spot Run (which even the seven-year old thinks are lame), aren't changed simply because we've added "collaboration" to our business vocabularies.

There are some nasty surprises ahead for anyone who tries to get away with merrely giving a new name to the same old ways of doing business.