Seth calls it Icarus Deception, I call it Fatal Blindness

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My post NYSC job was as a Business Analyst in a mid-sized supply chain management company. Oh dear, it was a great time of my life (talk of the Good, Bad & damn right Ugly). So, one of the things I enjoyed about the job was the latitude to relate with the business groups. Like a typical start-up, there was really no “THIS IS MY JOB” thing. The idea was to get the job done. Nuff said!  


Is it true that we humans (our businesses included) are victims of an Icarus Deception? That all things being equal, (whoever came up with that idea anyway) we would rather stick to the status-quo. This concept claims we love inertia so much that we won’t move until we are moved.  


To be conservative, there are more than 100 supply chain companies in this clime (DHL, FedEx and others). So how come none of them with their robust architecture for distribution haven’t considered venturing into the e-commerce space not as a support system but as a key player? 


How come DealDey, Konga, Jumia and others easily feed off the capability of these supply chain guys? A lot of them have outsourced their distribution while others have out rightly set up an agile system. I am not casting aspersions on the capability of e-commerce sites (these folks run on a near ubiquitous set of codes and yes, their technology is not beans).


While the supply chain companies may complain of disappearing business lines and revenue (thanks to low barrier to entry and stiff competition), why can’t they (the supply chain guys) just pivot their business model? 


I believe Seth Godin puts it like this:

“The safety zone has moved. Conformity no longer leads to comfort. But the good news is that creativity is scarce and more valuable than ever. So is choosing to do something unpredictable and brave: Make art. Being an artist isn’t a genetic disposition or a specific talent. It’s an attitude we can all adopt. It’s a hunger to seize new ground, make connections, and work without a map. If you do those things you’re an artist, no matter what it says on your business card”


#Strategy #SethGodin #IcarusDeception

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