Getting our thinking unstuck

The ‘Ever Given’ getting stuck in the Suez generated numerous headlines, forecasts, portents and memes. It’s understandable: the rarity and gravity of the episode combined with the dramatic images of a giant ship stuck sideways in a vital global shipping channel make for a story with broad interest.

But, as always, there’s a lot that doesn’t make the front pages. Here are a few things I’ve been thinking about as I’ve followed this story, and that I think remain relevant even as the ship sails on:

1.  People connect the world, and we take most of them for granted. Even as a business leader working in an intensely globalised sphere, I was wowed by some of the statistics and images I came across this week. First, that there are more than 1.5 million seafarers working for months at sea at any given time who make global trade possible. Second, the sheer volume of sea trade – thousands of cargo ships, tankers, fishing vessels and other ancillary boats are plying the planet’s seas and oceans right now to fulfill our wants.

I cannot help but be thankful to all these unsung individuals, crews and operators who make this possible. We should all be increasingly aware that the goods and services we receive at our doorstep, on our tables and on our shelves do not get there without many, many hands working together and without much hardship and challenge.

Some of the carriers awaiting transit through the Suez Canal are carrying live cattle to MENA markets to meet Ramadan demand – more proof that the end result of a global supply chain is both local and personal.

2.  Complex questions do not have simple answers.

We know beyond a doubt that global connectedness is a good thing. The vaccines and equipment that are helping turn the pandemic tide, for example, are the result of global cooperation and collaboration.

There is also undoubtedly a clear and strategic need to rethink local, national and regional manufacturing and the advantages to doing so are numerous, not least in the provision of jobs and security in basic goods, foods and technologies. A shorter supply chain will also allow for better vigilance on governance goals, something we at Majid Al Futtaim are very invested in.

For all the pros, however, let’s be careful to not think or act too reflexively. Let’s not ascribe shortfalls in plastics feedstock, car chips, tech components and rare-earth materials solely to one cause or a single effect but factor in changing demand and the role of necessity in spurring innovation among others.

Rather than scrambling from ‘just in time’ to ‘just at home’ models, let’s find solutions that are a better trade-off between efficiency and resilience. Let’s build up communities around the world while minimising what doesn’t work and maintaining what does. There are undoubtedly ways to improve the shortcomings of a global supply chain system without throwing out the baby or zero-sum answers.

3.  Freak mishaps are not failures; obstacles can be opportunities.

The last year has proved that global supply chains are resilient and responsive rather than fragile. It’s also shown that shocks are part of the system – caused by anything from bad weather to human error to a geopolitical spark. Perhaps most importantly, the last year and this last week have shown us what we can achieve and what we can solve when we come together.

The stress testing of 2020 has also tested business resilience and helped us course correct. Let’s not lose sight of this.

It seems to me that one of the most valuable lessons from this episode is to not get stuck in our thinking. Let’s not assume that anything is actually ‘ever given’ but instead rethink, recalibrate and jointly pursue the future we need and want.