by Beth Platow 0 comments

5 TED Talks for the Supply Chain

The popularity of TED Talks seems to have increased recently. A decade ago the lecture series, focused on technology, education, and design, wasn’t a household name. Today, the number of views totals well over 1 billion.

Here are 5 TED Talks for the supply chain industry:

What Happens Inside Those Massive Warehouses by Mick Mountz

We make millions of online purchases daily, but who (or what) actually puts our items into packages? In this talk, Mick Mountz weaves a fascinating, surprisingly robot-filled tale of what happens inside a warehouse. View

Inside the Secret Shipping Industry by Rose George

Almost everything we own and use, at some point, travels to us by container ship, through a vast network of ocean routes and ports that most of us know almost nothing about. Journalist Rose George tours us through the world of shipping, the underpinning of consumer civilization. View

As Work Gets More Complex Six Rules to Simplify by Yves Morieux

Why do people feel so miserable and disengaged at work? Because today’s businesses are increasingly and dizzyingly complex — and traditional pillars of management are obsolete, says Yves Morieux. So, he says, it falls to individual employees to navigate the rabbit’s warren of interdependencies. In this energetic talk, Morieux offers six rules for “smart simplicity.” (Rule One: Understand what your colleagues actually do.) View

Got a Wicked Problem? First, Tell Me How You Make Toast by Tom Wujec

Making toast doesn’t sound very complicated — until someone asks you to draw the process, step by step. Tom Wujec loves asking people and teams to draw how they make toast, because the process reveals unexpected truths about how we can solve our biggest, most complicated problems at work. Learn how to run this exercise yourself, and hear Wujec’s surprising insights from watching thousands of people draw toast. View

The Business Logic for Sustainability by Ray Anderson

At his carpet company, Ray Anderson has increased sales and doubled profits while turning the traditional “take / make / waste” industrial system on its head. In a gentle, understated way, he shares a powerful vision for sustainable commerce. View