Zen and the Art of Supply Chain

I came across a Forbes article on LinkedIn, and I started to comment, actually left a comment, when I realized this would be a great concept for a job post. And, since the article left a bit wanting, and I had the first comment on the CSCMP board, I figured, why not, my blog could use a post.

The article spoke about Zen and Supply Chain. This idea touches on a couple books for me (1) Robert Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and (2) David Allen's Getting Things Done. Taking those two books into mind, I wrote the following.

Supply chain is kind of like yoga for business. You want to use every part, and you want each part to be in shape and flexible. And you want to add muscle, but you need to keep stretching your capabilities to do that. A good combination of Lean and Strong helps a company react correctly to unforeseen events. Similarly, the old zen proverb state that you should react to things as a pond reacts to a rock thrown into it, equal to the force applied. A large bolder makes a big splash, but a pebble is barely noticeable as it hits the water.

 And, I really think that about sums Supply Chain up. The water comes from Allen's organizational mantra and the application of Supply Chain is really just Pirsig's logic that Zen can be applied to anything. And yoga might have been a bit more influenced by Drs. Oz and Roizen and my own personal practice.