Trauma Bonds

The trauma bonds of Supply Chain are strong.

I caught up with a former colleague and within minutes we were right back in it. War stories from operations and supply chain have a way of picking up where they left off - the need for immediate solutions - the “this will never work” moments that somehow did - the decisions made with imperfect data and real consequences.

What struck me wasn’t the chaos or even that chaos exists in all organizations (sometimes small and sometimes large) - we all remember that. It was the shared respect for the work and the people who did and do it.

Operations teaches you things no classroom or seminar ever will - how to stay calm when everything is loud - how to solve problems that don’t have clean answers - how to trust people when the pressure is real.

Those conversations are a reminder that supply chain isn’t just systems and spreadsheets. It’s judgment, grit, and relationships built in the middle of the mess.

Always good to reconnect with someone who understands the work - because once you’ve lived it, you don’t need to explain it.