I recently presented to a group of supply chain managers in Buenos Aires, along with another educator from Spain and two practitioners from Argentina. The conference organizer closed out the conference with a question-and-answer period during which the speakers were assembled as a panel to answer questions from the audience. The first questions that we got were relatively easy since they related to what we had talked about during our presentations. Towards the end of the session the moderator asked us the most difficult question: “If you had one thing to tell these supply chain managers, what would it be?” This question would not have been hard to answer had we been warned in advance that it would be asked. Since we weren’t, we all looked at each other stupefied, searching for what to say. Always willing to offer my opinion, I finally spoke up and said that I would give it a try.
I said that supply chain managers should be embracing not resisting complexity and risk. I added that the most successful companies are those that are best at managing complexity and mitigating risk. This is what makes them competitive. I then went on to elaborate on my answer.
Would I have given a different answer had I known the question in advance? Not really. I think it’s still a good response, as I discuss below.