Movin' On Up

Maybe the supply chain community hasn't reached the rare air enjoyed by George and Louise on 1975's solid hit spin-off of All In The Family, The Jeffersons.  Or, maybe it has.

When some of us started out in the mysterious universe of supply chain logistics, or whatever we chose to call it, a BA in English constituted over-education.  Our collective mandate was to "figure it out."  Subsequent generations built from a foundation of hands-on learning, in which one was expected to grasp the subtleties of transportation management by taking on a summer job dedicated to scheduling Teamsters to specific runs and assignments (hoping to not get beaten and humiliated by these estimable Knights of the Road).

"Those were the days," as Carroll O'Connor/Archie Bunker sang.

In a recent cameo appearance in front of a class at The Ohio State University, I took note of one student who was taking his coffee from a mug inscribed "Turkey."  As a one-time observer of Istanbul's Grand Bazaar, I was impressed.  The student was blase, explaining matter-of-factly that he had interned on an S&OP project in the former Constantinople.

We have come a long way when a global assignment gets taken in stride, and the next generation of supply chain practitioners looks at a learning stage that was a rare accomplishment in an earlier age as simply a next step in personal and professional development.

Trust me on this - it is not a matter of too much, too soon.  It represents the level of practical sophistication that needs to characterize what we, in the collective, bring to the party, and to the success of the enterprise.

I am a bit envious, though, and - even at this stage of life - would cheerfully take on sourcing and procurement in the Grand Bazaar as a highly desirable next step in life and in work.