Renault Schools The Modern Supply Chain

What, you may rightly ask, does a long-dead creator of questionable automobiles have to say to us as a new century stands on the cusp of maturity?

Louis Renault was a genius. At first, and at an absurdly young age, he was a dabbler, a dilettante with interests in chemistry, electricity, mechanics, and sundry impossibilities. He settled on engines and automobiles.

An early blow, failure in his school entrance exams, was softened by the family fortune.

As the practical performance of autos was demonstrated, and a radical transmission evolved, racing was the next mountain to scale. Two dead brothers later, racing remained the catalyst for growth, and Louis was alone.

Atop a colossus, Renault could not share power with anyone, and suffered devastating work strikes. In 1940, he agreed to work with the conquering Nazis.

When the Germans decamped Paris, Louis was arrested and died in prison.

A one-man business to a national corporation. A name to live on in memory. A curious old man buried in a Paris cemetery. Alone.

Take from that the importance of building a team to carry on, the importance of collaboration for success, the power of focus, the potential of thinking outside the (gear)box, and the dangers of not staying true to core values.

Then contemplate an end alone.