Opening up possibility

In a Supply Chain Symposium this week with a number of our key vendors, we learned so much from all participants. I especially enjoyed the differing perspectives on common problems. Perhaps most fascinating, though, was a recurring commentary on supply relationships within the industry. Suppliers expressed surprise in our sincere interest in their needs. As a retailer, we were delighted to hear that most suppliers could respond to needs we thought could not be met. The symposium was a great first step, and the surveys at the end of the symposium offered many ideas (and resources) for realizing the opportunities we discussed.

Well, that sounds like pretty basic stuff, doesn’t it? Isn’t this the promise of every symposium or convention? Yes, but…. How many times are you able to cash in on that promise? It seems to me the key difference with this event was in framing it not operationally (new concepts – technology – processes), but within a social context. We seek to redefine the supply relationships in order to redefine the processes that link us. If we only first achieve the intangibles (improved understanding, appreciation, trust, connectedness), I have to believe the tangibles (removing waste / cost out of the supply chain) will be realized. What a departure from the sometimes brutal supply relationship models practiced in the past couple decades, which often resulted in breakdowns due to the win/lose polarity embedded within.

I’m reminded that Rosamund and Benjamin Zander refer to this as ‘the downward spiral,’ which they represent so memorably in The Art of Possibility. If one assumes a world of scarcity (finite resources), then there is no possibility for expansion. I’d like to believe in the possibility that there’s more for all, if we allow problem-solving to explode the confines of past experience while we explore a social framework that defines possibility for all parties.