Supply Chain Blog
Reviews about books
Alan Watts once wrote that life is “all about balancing, not about being balanced.” For those of us who have spent years in the trenches of supply chain management, this insight resonates with particular force. We’ve been taught to pursue stability, to eliminate variability, to build fortresses of inventory and rigid contracts that promise predictability….
Just as Darius Foroux’s Six Spokes Theory emphasizes the importance of balancing body, mind, work, love, money, and play for an optimal life. I believe that the supply chain management requires a similar holistic approach. A truly resilient and efficient supply chain operates like a well-balanced wheel, with six critical spokes working in harmony to…
In the fast-paced, high-stakes world of supply chain management, we often focus on metrics, processes and technology while overlooking one of the most powerful forces shaping our teams’ performance: emotional contagion. Behavioral scientist Peter Totterdell‘s groundbreaking research reveals a fascinating truth about workplace dynamics; when people work together, they literally infect each other with emotions…
In the complex world of supply chain management, we often find ourselves caught between two powerful forces. As Daniel Pink notes in To Sell is Human, healthy positivity requires calibration between levity that unseen force that lifts you skyward and gravity which is the opposing force that pulls you earthward. This metaphor perfectly captures the…
A supply chain leader’s perspective on Eric Kimberling’s “Final Countdown: Strategies to Reach the Third Stage of Digital Transformation“ The supply chain world is drowning in digital transformation promises. Every vendor claims their solution will revolutionize your operations. Every conference speaker talks about AI-powered forecasting, blockchain transparency, and IoT-enabled visibility. Yet despite billions invested in…
In ancient Greece, historian Thucydides observed that “the growth of the power of Athens, and the alarm which this inspired in Sparta, made war inevitable.” This phenomenon, now known as the Thucydides Trap, describes the dangerous dynamic when a rising power threatens to displace an established hegemon. While Harvard’s Thucydides Trap Project found that 12…
In the 1990s, British anthropologist Robin Dunbar proposed a fascinating idea: humans have a cognitive limit to the number of meaningful relationships they can maintain somewhere between 100 and 250, with 150 being the most commonly cited figure. This concept, known as the Dunbar number, suggests that beyond this threshold, our ability to manage stable social connections breaks down. But what…
Frank Sinatra’s legendary song New York, New York isn’t just a song about ambition—it’s a philosophy. The line “If I can make it there, I’ll make it anywhere” captures the idea that conquering the toughest challenge in your field proves you can handle anything. Chip and Dan Heath, in their book Made to Stick, call this the “Sinatra Test”—a single, high-stakes…