The Barber Gets Married

The Kid popped up again, making another left turn without signaling.His mother thought that, perhaps, he had the radio on while showering.  But, no.  He announced, appearing at breakfast with soapy water running onto the floor, "Guess what?  I've been singing opera!"  Pressed for specifics, he confessed that he had learned - and really liked - Vigoro.

Trust me, we will not descend into the manure pit of a few weeks ago, so Vigoro it will remain.  We did not have the heart to frighten him with the news that The Barber of Seville by Rossini is, sure as night follows day, merely a precursor to The Marriage of Figaro by Mozart.  He is still a little sensitive on the subject of the now-departed Ripley, his one and only plan for the future.

But, what has this venture into another realm of the cosmos shown us?  Several useful things.  He knows what opera is, and he knows that we know what it is, too.  He may be unclear on all the details, but he is not afraid to try it.

It might not turn out to be completely right for him, but he won't know without a trial run.  His experiment may be limited to a low-risk venue, but within boundaries, he will go all out to see where it takes him.  And, he is not afraid to tell others what he is trying and how things are going.

So, maybe, if we take a similar approach to innovation, or to considerations of newer concepts in the supply chain arena, we can learn a lot, without undue risk, and choose amongs paths of adoption, rejection, or modification.  This process, true, does rob us of the angst of imagining what might be wrong about the unknown as we reject it, but it might open doors that we'd be afraid to turn the knobs on otherwise.

Note: I'm late in acknowledging the sudden passing of a hero, Jock Menzies.  Our arguably greatest generation, certainly our pioneer forefathers, has been slipping away for a few years now.  But, Jock tragically left way too soon.  Visionary, leader, humanitarian, and gentleman, I treasure and salute his memory.