At some point in my post-college career, I became infatuated with supply chain management. I downloaded, and read, a supply chain textbook for fun (yes, I do that kind of stuff!). Then I stumbled upon a book about the supply chain management practices of Alexander the Great. I was hooked. My favorite “hero” from history was a supply chain genius. Although my passion for supply chain management subsided, the lessons it taught me still influence my long-term outlook on life.
Systems From A-Z
Let’s think about a particular item purchased from Amazon, one of the most prolific supply chain managing companies in the world. A person orders an item and within two days the product has arrived at her doorstep. Quite the miracle that can be mapped out high-level and then widdled down to each piece that got it there.
Basically, she ordered the item, someone (most likely a robot) in a warehouse received the request, the robot grabbed the item off the shelf, the item was placed in a box, and the item was packaged for shipment. After that, someone from a shipping company came to pick up the item, delivered it to an airport, and you get the picture…
There is a massive system to get from a mouse-click on Amazon’s website to the front door of this lady’s house in only two days. But we only see A and Z, we don’t see B-Y. Life is very similar. We rarely see inside a person’s individual decisions leading us to only seeing outputs.
Life Isn’t as Simple as High-Level Supply Chain Management
Once you get a grasp on basic supply chain management you start to understand all the little parts, and planning, that goes into having a product go from point A to Z. Instead of a miraculous button-click to delivered package you start to realize the supply chain is an ingenious, man-made process with planning down to the smallest process. Each little process adds up to create the system, and each process is extremely fine-tuned.
Life, your life, is the output of all sorts of systems and processes. What people see on social media is merely the output of the processes you put in place. It doesn’t tell the story of the underlying thought processes, and day-to-day activities, that led you there. The goal in life isn’t to have glorious Instagram photos (output Z) but to have awesome processes (inputs B-Y) that lead you to an awesome, Instagram-worthy, brunch in Manhattan.
Life as a Process
It has taken me years to realize life is a process. Each little input into my life affects my outputs. Each process I add to my life adds to my long-term output. When one process fails, I fail to achieve my desired outcome (Z).
Although I sometimes set myself to high expectations, I find when I don’t do everything in my power to control my life, my processes, that I end up letting my goals slide. However, when I take control and execute my processes like a master supply chain manager, my life becomes a work of art. Output Z looks great to the people on the outside, but they have no idea the processes (B-Y) that made it a reality.
Each day I have to remind myself that life is a long-term game. And much like supply chain management, the sum of the parts is greater than the whole. For every little process I incorporate into my life, the end goal is easier to achieve. The more times I execute on my path, the more the engine keeps humming.
Life is a process, the output is merely your internal supply chain producing results. Although we all love the dopamine hits, and instant gratification of recognized outputs, the real beauty of life is the inner feeling of improving our processes.
There is nothing more rewarding than highly-functioning internal processes and, once we understand long-term happiness is achieved from the sum of these processes, life becomes a game against ourselves to improve each hub on the supply chain.