If you've spent more than five minutes in a supply chain meeting lately, you've probably played an unintentional game of buzzword bingo. Over the past decade, we've cycled through circular logistics, smart logistics, blockchain, autonomous logistics, digital transformation, Industry 4.0, control towers, end-to-end visibility, digital twins - the list goes on.
Now my personal favorites are having their moment: resilience and antifragility.
Resilience is the ability to take a hit and bounce back to normal with minimal chaos. Author Nassim Nicholas Taleb takes it further, defining antifragility as getting stronger from stress and turning disruptions into competitive advantages. These concepts feel especially relevant as supply chain disruptions occur at an unprecedented pace. However, discussions of resilience tend to be more academic than practical.
Don't misunderstand - I appreciate aspirational concepts. Yet we're missing the playbook for reaching this end state, as evidenced by Capgemini's study showing “95% of companies will fail to enable end-to-end resiliency by 2026, and only 20% feel equipped to handle supply chain challenges consistently.”
“95% of companies will fail to enable end-to-end resiliency by 2026, and only 20% feel equipped to handle supply chain challenges consistently.”
Let me share a story about preparation meeting opportunity. In 2007, the Indianapolis Colts, led by Peyton Manning, made it to Super Bowl XLI in Miami. Despite playing home games in a climate-controlled dome, Manning insisted on practicing snaps with a wet football - much to his center Jeff Saturday's annoyance. Then came Super Bowl morning, bringing torrential rain - a statistical anomaly in Miami and for the Super Bowl itself. That "unnecessary" wet ball drill suddenly didn't seem so pointless. The Colts' preparation paid off as they outperformed the Bears in nearly every offensive stat to win the championship - effectively turning an unpredictable weather disruption into a competitive advantage. Or said another way, the Colts outperformed resiliency and achieved anti-fragility.
Like Manning's wet football drills, building resilience isn't about revolutionary frameworks but rather mastering fundamentals. Not sure if you’re mastering the basics? Pause for self-reflection on these topics:
- People: Does my team have the expertise and autonomy to drive continuous improvement?
- Policy: Do we have well-defined governance that balances standardization with flexibility?
- Processes: Are our workflows data-driven and continuously refined? Are today's market conditions hiding bad practices?
- Technology: Are we leveraging purpose-built solutions that automate routine or low value tasks and enhance decision-making? Are we continuously expanding the capabilities enabled by technology to improve outcomes?
- Intelligence: Are insights easily produced, well understood, and proactively guiding adjustments? Are there gaps in quality or availability? Do we have scalable operational capabilities?
- Strategy & Execution: Does our long-term strategy shape short and mid-term priorities? Are tactical insights revealing strategic opportunities?
"Building resilience isn't about revolutionary frameworks but rather mastering fundamentals."
If you're not feeling great about this reflection, never fear. Start small - begin by measuring your operational maturity across core functional process areas. Map these process areas against current performance and benchmark against best-in-class peers where possible. Identify gaps in maturity or outcomes to highlight the areas of opportunity. Focus on quick, practical fixes that don't require extensive business cases.
Think of these as 'micro-improvements' - changes that are easy to implement, deliver fast results, and build momentum. Each success creates a flywheel effect, generating the energy, insights, and organizational buy-in needed to tackle progressively bigger challenges.
Whether you're Tony Dungy, Peyton Manning, or the equipment manager of your supply chain, you have the potential to ensure your organization's journey to resilience is more than just another square on buzzword bingo.
Like Manning's preparation or Dungy's long-term transformation of the Colts, excellence comes in layers – tactical practices, operational mid-term initiatives, and strategic long-term transformation. When these elements work in concert, organizations can achieve sustainable resilience that delivers immediate results while building long-term advantages.
What are you waiting for?
This article originally appeared on Talking Logistics.
About the Author
Tara Buchler is a logistics technology strategist with 20+ years of experience bridging business goals and supply chain software solutions. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Marketing and Logistics from Grand Valley State and was named a Supply & Demand Chain Executive Pro to Know.
About JBF Consulting
Since 2003, we’ve been helping shippers of all sizes and across many industries select, implement and squeeze as much value as possible out of their logistics systems. We speak your language — not consultant-speak – and we get to know you. Our leadership team has over 100 years of logistics and TMS implementation experience. Because we operate in a niche — we’re not all things to all people — our team members have a very specialized skill set: logistics operations experience + transportation technology + communication and problem-solving skills + a bunch of other cool stuff.
