Yesterday

It's a matter of context and points of reference. When the Beatles sang, there was some wiggle room. Yesterday might have been as much as a week ago.

When I say (not sing) yesterday, it probably means yesteryear, possibly even a time before World War II. When we say "yesterday" in the galloping world of supply chain developments, we mean anything that has whack-a-mole popped up since midnight.

With some exceptions that range from the laughable to the heart-rending, we get that the WW II yesterday is museum quality, providing the well-springs for many commonplace practices. Late last century's yesterday is full of booby-traps and minefields, lulling one generation of practitioners into thinking that they have today's solutions in hand.

But, execution reality is that each new today brings opportunities to solve problems and overcome challenges. One of our dilemmas, in satisfying both our leaders and our customers, is that real-time yesterday's solutions might well not be today's escape hatch.

It's not so much that the rules have changed; they do that often enough. But, the context, the environmental subtleties, the unique circumstances that have shifted ever so slightly from one yesterday to the next, can make the optimal - and ultimately successful in cementing the customer relationship - solution a little different from what worked, was the right thing, just a day ago.

So, relaxing with a cold one at day's end, consider how lucky we are to be challenged each and every day in our jobs.

Beats insurance underwriting, doesn't it?