The Observation
Most companies obsess over lean inventories, just-in-time delivery, and squeezing logistics costs. They view the supply chain as a cost center to be minimized. That is a dangerous mistake. The real goal of a supply chain is not cost reduction, it is continuity.
The Analysis
When you treat your supply chain as a spreadsheet exercise, you build a system that is brittle. It survives in perfect conditions but collapses at the first sign of a ripple. You end up with a single-source supplier to save 2 percent on unit costs, then you lose 20 percent of your revenue when that one supplier hits a snag.
True resilience requires a shift in philosophy. Stop viewing suppliers as vendors to be managed by a purchase order. Start bringing them into your strategic planning. A vendor is someone who sells you a product. A strategic partner is someone who helps you navigate a crisis.
The Tactical Step
This requires a bias toward action, not analysis. Design for redundancy. Build multi-path networks as a standard procedure. If a process adds cost but buys you insurance against disruption, pay for it. Efficiency is what you do when the world is predictable. Resilience is what you do to stay in business when it is not.
Question for the network
Look at your most critical supply line right now. If that supplier disappeared tomorrow, how long would you last? If the answer makes you uncomfortable, are you ready to stop optimizing for cost and start optimizing for survival?
References
- Harvard Business Review: Beyond the Supply Chain: Building Resilient Business Networks
By Michael Lennard Gnaedinger. © 2026 Gnaedinger Consultancy. All rights reserved.
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