March Madness

Cheap trick, bait and switch; this has nothing to do with the NCAA basketball tournament.  Rather, the focus is on the staggeringly horrific events in Japan - earthquake, tsunami, nuclear meltdown - with eventual outcomes that may only be speculated about at this point.  While we wait, anxieties mount, talking heads carry on endlessly - possibly mindlessly, financial markets tremble (or worse), a nation wrestles with finding a path, and the rest of the world tries to find ways to help in the face of their own concerns.

Supply chains have broken down, both domestically and globally, in the aftermath.  MIT's Yossi Sheffi pinpointed the need for comprehensive planning and the development of alternatives and mitigations in 2005's The Resilient Enterprise.  The core premise was that the likelihood of any single catastrophic event occuring is minuscule, but the likelihood of some catastrophic event is quite high.  That near-certainty demands that organizations get clear-eyed about identifying worst-case situations and impacts, then putting remedies in place.

Dr. Sheffi's focus was on supply chains and business continuity, but that addresses mere stuff.  More than stuff is at stake in the present case.  It seems that countries, as well as corporations, need to think the unthinkable, then align relationships with other nations and agencies to cope with the impact of "impossible" scenarios.  Think of these relationships as geopolitical versions of the business relationships that supply chain partners must build for success - and continuity - in the realm of stuff.

Seems like we ought to not put this off at national and regional levels.  Maybe we'll re-visit the importance of the process in our supply chains and supply chain relationships.  Perhaps we'll even consider the need for a parallel exercise in our personal lives. 

In the meantime, please don't hesitate to donate whatever you can  to assist with relief for Japan.