The Tyranny Of Tenure

I have deep compassion for our unemployed colleagues.  How can one not?  True confession - I do cringe at the overuse of the euphemism "in transition" to mean "looking for work".  As an independent consultant, I have been, essentially, unemployed for some twenty years, or so, and am almost always looking for work.

A basic issue for the older displaced supply chain practitioner (or seasoned professional in transition) is this: Do you have a job history?  Or, do you have relevant 21st-century skills?  To be blunt, decades of experience in functional execution roles do not usually bring the value proposition embedded in current proactive planning assignments with strategic implications.  It is tomorrow that savvy employers are looking toward, not yesterday.

The challenge gets complicated in those situations in which employers have encouraged - even incentivized - coloring inside the lines and rigorous process compliance in last-century business and supply chain models.

For those who beleive that the experience of the past is sufficient preparation for the demands of the future in supply chain management, the struggle is likely to be frustrating.  All those years with one company, or in similar roles with a series of employers, may not count for much in the new hiring equation.  The new employment math is more often about evolving and demonstrated visions for the moving target of next year, and of the years following.  It is not about mastery of what worked in a more static world.  it is about progressive thinking and change leadership, and not about reactive problem-solving and merely coping with change.

Speaking plainly, getting a really  good - and interesting - assignment with an organization that would be really good to work in seems to rest on getting one's head around new concepts, and new skills thresholds, even in a market that is admittedly talent short.

Prospective employers today are looking for (says the research) strategic vision, linkage with corporate strategies and directions, holistic and integrated perspectives on supply chain planning and execution, mastery of new and deeper dimensions in relationships (personal and organizational), and a solid grounding in quantitative analysis and decsion-making.

So, those who want to get out of transition need to change the focus, direction, and context of their search efforts.  No one else is going to liberate their core strengths from the burden of history; only they, themselves, can free their assets from the limitations of their pasts.

Tinkle, Tinkle, Little Star . . .

The eight (going on thirty-two) year-old has resurfaced, in a striking way.  This time, it was at his annual physical.  His (female) pediatrician explained, as delictely as she could, that it was going to be necessary for her to check out some parts of his body that might make him a little uncomfortable.

"Whoa!  Doctor, you don't need to do that!" he screamed.  "I check those myself every day.  As of this morning, I had two of the one, and one of the other."  Pandemonium broke out, and the exam lurched to a tittering conclusion.

Obviously, the good doctor humored The Kid, but performed the sensitive elements of the examination herself.  No professional can afford to make judgments based on a cleint's (or patient's) representations, when the qualifications to render self-diagnoses might, or might not, be sufficient.

I will remember for a long time the client who proudly reported having achieved "world class" status in Customer Service, based on continuing and significant reductions in complaint calls.  Unfortunately, field tests revealed that key customers has given up on problem call-ins because underlying conditions seldom, if ever, were improved.

Wow!  Commendations were awarded, and internal press releases were published, all citing spectacular progress.  Once again, The Kid has shown us a critical truth that we can apply every day in our supply chain world.

 

High Tech Haiku

Maybe it should be Hai Tech Highku, I don't know.  On a side note, by the way, can there be any doubt, after watching the Olympic closing cemonies, that Jessie J is the real deal?  Or, that Annie Lennox has still got it?

Back to haiku, the classical form of this poetic art form is a seventeen-syllable, three line expression, generally in a 5-7-5 structure.  More modern forms display significant variance, e.g., 5-3-5, 3-5-3, 8-7, 7-8, 5-6-5, for example.  There is even an essentially verical format.

The object is to present a minimalist, but comprehensible, thought, in which meaning is clear, even with a highly incomplete textual description.  Seventeen (or fewer) syllables?  I can't spit out a coherent thought in fewer than one hundred seventy words.

Comes now the parade of tweets, in which this province of the twitterati is limited to one hundred forty characters.  Is this the new haiku?  Honestly, most of what I see is borderline, or over the line, illiteracy.  To be fair, I did see a few tweets in Fortune magazine that made sense, but I suspect they may have been ringers, composed after the fact.

So, what is the credibility and usefulness of something that reads like "Dog u r dope.  LMFAO.  FDOTFL.  So sick."?

Do these kinds of presentations go down a bit easier?

Supply chain pushing                Commoditizing

Becoming                                 Corrupting

Supply chain pulling                 Collaboration

                                               Coarsening

                                               Commerce

                                               Cheapening

                                               Community

Or,

Building trust

Making foundations

Giving wins

Fox News time: We report, you decide.

Swifter, Higher, Stronger

It's only fitting to recognize the XXX Olympiad in London at this time.  Usually, in August I express some amazement at the challenges of event logistics and project supply chains as a result of our Columbus affiliate pulling off the PurpleStride celebration for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network.  That noble effort, however, pales in comparison with what is involved in a multi-week series of events involving thousands of athletes, coaches, and families - and an army of spectators in dozens of venues.

It is military in scale, and has the exciting feature of massive  reverse logistics at its conclusion, as well.

All supply chains are faced with the swifter, higher, stronger challenge in year-on-year performance.  I'll submit that this is easier to approach for those chains that have the advantage of continuous operation, in which it is a little less daunting to contemplate continuous improvement. 

For those whose supply chain life is marked by periodic immense one-off planning and operations, and in which flawless performance is the imperative,  the challenge is also complicated by working without a net.  My friend, John Janson, makes the football placekicker analogy: the walk-off field goal is the minimum expectation, forgotten by the time of next week's game; the phrase "wide right" echoes for generations.

Meanwhile, for all of us, it's "swifter, higher, stronger".  Even if we can't take the gold every time out, we can take heart from Ohio's Holley Mangold.  A rookie, hampered with a bum wing, she left it all in the arena, and still managed to be tenth-best in the world in her specialty.

 

The Hangover Part III

No, this is not about the uneven but brilliant films featuring Ed Helms, Bradley Cooper, and Zach Galifianakis (Part I being markedly funnier than Part II).  Neither, actually, is as funny as Helms' earlier gem, Cedar Rapids.

Confession - the Caribbean experience is still somewhat with me.  I engaged in further research while in the tropical clime, namely a comparison of various additives to indigenous spirits.  The conclusion, which I hope will be picked up by one or another scholarly journal, is that coconuts, pineapples, mangoes, and other hot weather  fruits all cause brutal headaches which manifest themselves some 8 to 10 hours following consumption.  The experiment stopped there; I did not have time to validate my assumption that rum alone was merely a benign medium in which to deliver the test subjects.  My faculty advisor, Captain Morgan, assured me that such was the case.

The condition reminded me of the shortcomings of traditional transactional, win-lose, negotiations between buyers and sellers - the ol' zero-sum game.  Satisfying some primal urge, it can be dizzingly exhilarating to win.  And, as in many drinking games, if one is good, more are better.

But, come morning, the pixie dust has turned to ashes.  The brilliance has worn off, and the satisfaction  has not lasted the night.  No matter how many wins and how many nights, the next day's choice is too often a chase for more wins.  That might make the headaches go away, for a while, and lead into another round of business combat.

The other choice is more difficult, but can show the way to a new way of life in business relationships - win-win mutual success.  This path delivers fewer blinding headaches, and the good feeling created tends to last.  And, the value proposition for both parties is bigger and stronger than what the transient old-style victory delivers.

I get that it is not easy to give up the old model, and those who attempt to do so can suffer relapses.  But, once the new direction has been attempted it might be easier to get up and try it again.  Think about it, shippers, carriers, service providers, and anyone else in the greater end-to-end supply chain.  Are you ready to set out on a twelve-step program  to a revitalized business life?

My partner in research, the irascible Ron Rico might not agree, but . . .