The Great Equalizer

Over the past couple of years I've had a good time talking with supply chain and logistics colleagues about one blog or another, with some lively face-to-face exchanges. More recently, some of my writing has appeared in other venues, and I have been amazed at the vitriolic ad hominem attacks that seem to pop up almost immediately.

One borderline illiterate took me to task for gently pointing out that a public forum question relating to the importance of spelling and grammar in electronic communications contained an obvious grammatical error (in the context of a thoughtful response to the question, itself). He felt compelled to make the point - several times - that he talked American, not spoke English, and that anything that sounded right to his ear was by definition correct American.

Last week, a public piece on a local logistics issue appeared to rouse the Occupy Anything brigade, and the on-line responses were personal, off-point, south of literate, and factually wrong.

Upon reflection, it is clear that, as with nuclear fission, there are both upsides and downsides to technology. Anyone with access to a PC, Mac, tablet, or smart phone can connect with pretty much anyone and anything, and say/write almost any banal, illiterate, or obscene thing that comes to mind - and believe that his (or her, but it's mostly guys) voice has equal weight, validity, and gravitas with anyone else's.

Too often, we are confusing connectivity with relationships. Don't get me wrong, the positive power of connectivity is fantastic. But, it can best only support a relationship, and not substitute for one.

So, we get this army, happily dispersed and disorganized, of conspiracy theorists, malcontents, and dysfunctional individuals weighing in on anything that catches the antennae in their tinfoil hats. I picture someone generally resembling Zach Galifianakis sitting at the keyboard in his underwear, living with a cot and a card table in his parents' basement, and with an aura of old food surrounding him.

The point of all this is really to thank the supply chain community for being short on dimwits, and long on collegial relationships that can engage in stimulating civil discourse. We are beyond fortunate in having thoughtful and forward-looking leaders among us, and in not having to bear the burden of a population that is short of both teeth and Stanford-Binet points.