I was mulling over a cup of cacao this evening, replaying the day’s store visits in my head. Officially, they were courtesy calls, but let’s be real—they were just a fancy way to troubleshoot a broken pipeline. Truth is, a simple text message with the right protocol could’ve moved things along just as well. No need for the in-person charm. And after seeing how Jerry set things up for his chief of staff, I realized that text doesn’t even need to come from a human—just needs to feel like it does.
That hit me hard because so much of my time in the supply chain is spent doing exactly that: nudging people to the next step. Here’s the list of what I’m constantly reminding folks to do:
- Get cacao beans to the warehouse.
- Confirm packaging needs with the production company.
- Bring beans to Santos for processing and CIC for heavy metal testing.
- Send that overdue freight quotation.
- Prep inbound freight data.
- Fulfill online orders or restock retailers.
- Plant the tree.
It’s not exactly brain surgery, right? But here’s the rub—a lot of these nudges get ignored. I’ve been telling myself the system holds together because of a bigger WHY—call it LOVE. Planting trees for the next generation, leaving something for those who come after us. I think of Salvation Mountain, still standing years after Leonard Knight passed, with “God is Love” as its heartbeat. That’s the kind of purpose I thought was driving us.
But if love is the engine, why do so many just… not respond? I wrestled with this in a chat with DeepSeek, and it flipped my perspective. Love isn’t enough to guarantee action. What I’ve been missing is resonance—finding the folks who don’t just nod along with warm words but actually follow through, especially when there’s no immediate gain for them. I’ve been pouring energy into people who mask transactional self-interest with politeness, and I’m done with that.
Then there’s this other angle—something more mechanical. I got some sharp feedback that cut through my poetic framing. The point was simple: I’m not wrong about the nudging being the core of the work, but I’m over-romanticizing the “soul” of the system. Most supply chains don’t fail from a lack of complexity—they stall from latency and silence. My endless list of reminders? That’s just a queue of “unmoved states.” And while purpose—like love—helps, systems don’t run on goodwill alone. They need incentives, reliability, and accountability loops.
Here’s where I’m starting to see it differently:
- Nudges don’t need to feel human. It’s not about warmth—it’s about legitimacy (is this real?), consequence (what if I ignore it?), and clarity (what do I do next?). A robotic but precise system often beats a “human-feeling” one.
- Zeitgeist isn’t mystical. I’ve been framing it as some intuitive, almost spiritual read of the environment—what people are feeling, what SKUs they’re in the mood for. But really, it’s demand signals, partner responsiveness, cash pressures, and seasonal context. More of that can be systematized than I thought.
- Love isn’t the only glue. Purpose boosts cooperation, sure, but Salvation Mountain doesn’t just persist on belief—it’s reinforced by cultural recognition, caretakers, and visitors. Structure sustains, not just soul.
So, what am I actually building here? Maybe it’s less about inspiring everyone with a grand mission and more about creating a human coordination OS. Think of it as nodes (farmers, processors, logistics, retailers), states (beans harvested to processed to shipped to sold to trees planted), triggers (reminders, confirmations), and a motivation layer (the mission, or “love”). The bottleneck isn’t my effort—it’s unreliable state transitions from mistimed or missing triggers.
Here’s the real opportunity—and it’s a bit dangerous if I get it wrong: if I systematize this well, I’m not just automating reminders. I’m building a self-propelling supply chain where humans only step in for exceptions, not routine. But if I lean too hard on the “soul” framing, I risk underbuilding the mechanical reliability, and the whole thing gets fragile when goodwill dips.
Reflections for the evening: I’m starting to see my role as less about nudging with heart and more about designing a deterministic system with feedback loops. Love might be the filter to find the right people, but structure is what keeps the chain moving. What about you—how do you balance the human “why” with the mechanical “how” in your own work?
- Supply Chain
- Technology
- Personal Growth