Well, here we all are: at an extraordinary and historically important time in our world.
There’s no doubt that our lives have been changed forever, split into the Before and After Covid-19 eras. (Think of it like BC-19 and AC-19.)
The thought becomes quite earth-shattering the more you reflect on it. So many burning questions come to mind:
- How did Covid-19 change your life?
- Where were you when the pandemic struck?
- Was your job an essential service?
- What was it like being isolated at home?
- What did you achieve when you were isolated?
Still, despite all the difficulties, now is still an unprecedented time of extraordinary opportunity. (Fun fact: Did you know that the Chinese characters that make up their word for ‘crisis’ are ‘danger’ and ‘opportunity’?)
So, just where is this opportunity?
Well, we don’t really have to look far.
Have you ever heard the term ‘supply chain’ used so frequently in the daily news cycle? Did people even know what a supply chain was prior to Covid-19? You would be working hard to find someone who doesn’t know what a supply chain actually is now.
The crisis has made it clear why our current supply chains are gaining much notoriety. It’s a sad fact that many are simply damaged, inadequate, broken and failing.
There are many of our own SC operatives quietly working away, across many industries, putting up with these damaged, inadequate, broken and failing supply chains in order to work for the sake of everyone’s survival. These people deserve all our gratitude doing an extraordinary job in extraordinary times.
And once this crisis is over, we have to seriously consider if we should risk forcing them to do it all over again. Should we continue to:
- Simply fumble around the edges of the old, inherited systems (including tools, technologies and processes) that are seriously deficient, if not failing to work entirely, or…
- Start developing, advancing and step-changing our supply chains beyond anything we have ever been able to imagine or achieve before? (What do we really have to lose? Could it be any worse than what we have all been through?)
I think you all know the answer.
And no, we should not throw the baby out with the bathwater. We should certainly keep what works. I’m simply stating that we shouldn’t put another second into trying to make the old work in an AC-19 world.
Furthermore, we should not think ourselves brave, courageous or even noble to be doing this work.
Acting upon this now is only the most timely, sensible and responsible thing to do! This crisis has shown that time will be our judge and we do need to get on with it!
Because logically, any business that is not looking at how to build better, stronger, more fit-for-purpose and more resilient supply chains now, will struggle for survival in the AC-19 world.
So, are you with me? Are you ready to transform YOUR supply chain to succeed in the new world? Do you know what it could mean for your organisation and your career?
Watch out for my next blog posts and videos including frameworks, step by step guides, tips, as well as hints and hacks to re-imagine and co-create resilient, fit-for-purpose supply chains for the AC-19 world.
After all, the whole world is watching us do our part!
“Want to learn more about building resilience and value-generation in your supply chain? Give us a call for a quick consultation!