How to Become a Supply Chain Rock Star

This is an excerpt of the original article. It was written for the December 2020 edition of Supply Chain Management Review. The full article is available to current subscribers.

December 2020

Each December, the focus of the issue is our annual Executive Guide to Supply Chain Resources. This is a comprehensive guide to services, products and educational opportunities targeted specifically to supply chain professionals. But, as with years past, we’re also featuring several articles we trust will give you something to think about in the coming year.

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Think back to the first rock show you ever attended. Do you remember how you felt as the lights went out? For a moment you stood motionless in the dark, anticipating. Then the stage lights kicked in with a “bang,” you heard the fog machines hiss and the band emerged from the shadows. The crowd—all 15,000 to 50,000—roared as the first guitar chords screamed through the speaker stacks seconds before the drums and bass dropped in. The show was under way.

Did you imagine—if only for a moment—you were on the stage, singing lead, jamming on the guitar or riding the hi-hat? Most teenagers and 20-somethings do. The science behind the fantasy to find a place in the spotlight is clear. In adolescence, the brain begins to produce a neurochemical cocktail of oxytocin and dopamine that primes us to care deeply about social rewards. Maslow showed that those desires for belonging and recognition never go away. No matter our age, we derive our highest sense of self-worth from achieving our creative, intellectual and social potential. Standing in the shadows back stage simply isn’t a substitute for being in the spotlight.

A tale of two drummers

Unless, of course, you’re a supply chain manager. Too often, supply chain managers feel that they are stuck in the shadows, playing the drums behind the lead singer and guitar player. Even so, you may be wondering: “As a supply chain professional, what can I learn from youthful rock-and-roll fantasies?” Answer: We often forget that drummers are indispensable. After all, people at a concert dance to the drums, not to the vocals. Based on our 20-plus years working with supply chain leaders, we have learned that just as drummers deliver the beat that is the heart of every hit song, SCM delivers the value that is core to every supply chain competency.

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