Mike Griswold is the Vice President of Research at Gartner, specializing in retail with a particular focus on forecasting and replenishment. He is responsible for Gartner’s annual Top 25 Supply Chain ranking and joins Supply Chain Now on a monthly basis to discuss the latest in retail supply chains from an analyst’s perspective.

As part of this year’s ‘Top 25’ conversations, 50 companies have given Gartner briefings on their supply chains. One of the themes that has emerged this year as a particular focus is a lot more companies are proud of the work they are doing to emphasize sustainability.

In this episode, which was created as part of a Supply Chain Now livestream, Mike shares sustainable insights about sustainability to co-hosts Greg White and Scott Luton:

• The importance of companies discovering intrinsic business value in their efforts to become more sustainable, rather than just ‘doing the right thing’
• How external factors like inflation and consumer expectations are changing the corporate mindset around sustainability
• The role that technology can play in making it easier for companies to improve the sustainability of their supply chains

Intro/Outro (00:00:03):

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Scott Luton (00:00:32):

Hey, good morning, Scott Luton, Greg White with you here on supply chain. Now welcome to today’s live stream Gregory. How are we doing

Greg White (00:00:41):

I, well, man, it feels like we barely got here so much going on today, right?

Scott Luton (00:00:45):

A ton. It’s a busy time.

Greg White (00:00:48):

Yeah. Yeah, it is. It is. I think sort of being unquestionably, freed from the bonds of isolation has had a big impact on all of us, right? Yeah. You know, I just heard over the weekend that last Sunday mm-hmm <affirmative> was going to be the biggest travel day at the busiest airport in the world, Atlanta Heartsfield international airport. Yep. Since before the pandemic 5 million passengers passing through that airport between last weekend and Easter. So we are almost LA back to pre pandemic levels of travel just like that. Wow. So an unbelievable release for those people who hadn’t already kind of broken out, uh, as so many did and traveled last year, right?

Scott Luton (00:01:35):

Yes. Well, I love your eloquent opening there, eloquent and very observant and savvy, but my brain goes to, to a little dad joke you share with us in appreci show that I hadn’t heard. And you know, we’ve done about a thousand episodes together and you had a nickname playing baseball. So Greg put you on the spot. Well, how did folks refer to you?

Greg White (00:01:56):

Egg white get the <laugh>.

Greg White (00:02:01):

I look.

Greg White (00:02:02):

So when I started playing little league Scott, I was younger than every player on my team because they didn’t have, you know, when, when I was a kid, there was no coach pitch and no tee-ball right.

Scott Luton (00:02:13):

You started

Greg White (00:02:14):

With a second grader throwing a baseball at your body, essentially, especially when you’re lefthanded, because they would always try to throw away from right. So they didn’t hit them. I guess what’s on the opposite side of the plate from a, righthander a lefthander right. So

Scott Luton (00:02:31):

I love that.

Greg White (00:02:32):

I literally did not have a batting average for my first 11 at bats,

Scott Luton (00:02:36):

So, oh, we got, we gotta knock in egg from third base with less than less than two out. So’s get him in. Let’s get him. In’s I can just hear it all. Oh, some, some, many jokes a little time, but anyway, folks today, folks jokes, lots more jokes today. Today we have had <laugh> we’ve got one of our longer running series, one of our most popular guests, recurring guests, and clearly from all the folks already chiming in, in the comments and sky boxes. Welcome. We’re gonna try to give you a few shout outs in the minute. Clearly they’re ready for supply chain today and tomorrow with Mike Griswold from Gartner. So today Greg, beyond baseball, beyond folks itch and rear and a go get out, you know, get out and reconnect with which we did a little bit of yesterday, which really enjoyed today though. We’re talking about with Mike, how to make sustainability more sustainable. So this should be a really interesting topic given Mike’s purview, right?

Greg White (00:03:31):

It is. And you know, I think we need to recognize that there are different types of sustainability. There is obviously environmental sustainability and fiscal sustainability. And that’s what Mike’s gonna talk about us about with us today.

Scott Luton (00:03:45):

That’s right,

Greg White (00:03:46):

Right. If we want those initiatives to continue, we have to make ’em viable from a financial standpoint.

Scott Luton (00:03:52):

That is right. So let’s do this. Let’s shoot through, we got three things we’re gonna put in front of folks really quick. And again, it’s about the not words we’re gonna say hello to a few folks, and then we’ll be bringing Mike into the conversation. So first up folks we’d invite you to join us today at 3:00 PM for our latest weekly working session. This is led by our, our friends over at vector global logistics. It’s all about finding ways of leveraging logistics and really global supply chain to help folks in Ukraine. Uh, they are, uh, gathering a list of really vetted needs specific needs in specific part of the region. And they’re finding contributors and resources to get said, said, resources to address those needs. So Hey, no obligation. You join us. Feel free to join us and sit in and kind of soak up the market Intel and to get a really, you know, put your finger on the pulse of what’s really going on. But 3:00 PM today, the link is in the comments and we’d love for you to join us.

Greg White (00:04:48):

So there is a practical reason for that. So there is actually a container that we need funding for to send it so that some of these supplies can make it and we need bucks. So I’m gonna be making some phone calls today to find some of our colleagues in, you know, in the industry so that we can ship this thing. It’s about half paid for the container, I believe. Is that right? Scott?

Scott Luton (00:05:14):

The first one. Yeah, the first one.

Greg White (00:05:15):

Yeah. I think about half paid for the need. Some bucks. We know there’s some people out there and some with bucks and in fact vector has donated a ton. Yep. I don’t know exactly how many dollars and also who was it? Who else was it? It was another logistics company that Enrique told us about yesterday that has donated something. It’s an important name. So I wanna throw down the gauntlet.

Scott Luton (00:05:38):

What I do know is that there’s been a variety of resources, services and kind and direct contributions, right? Help get the stuff that are needed in particular right now, food and medicine are major needs. As you might imagine, school, school supplies, things like that, you know, ongoing needs that all of a sudden based on what’s going on, they become, uh, even more urgent. So folks, if nothing else to join us today at 3:00 PM is in the comments. And we’d welcome your support. As we find ways to really, uh, get meaningful aid over to folks in Ukraine, Poland, and elsewhere, May 10th, join us for on a much, much lighter note. There’s no follow up to whats going on in Ukraine. It, it almost feels silly going from, you know, humanity needs to, to anything else. But with that being said, join us May 10th, uh, 12 and Eastern time as we partner up with six river systems and they talk about how to solve three very common peak season challenges May 10th, 12 noon, Eastern time free to join there. And

Greg White (00:06:37):

Finally, sustainability is key. Scott Luton life goes on and it is, it is the fiscal aspect of our world that gives us the ability and viability to fight ruthless, illegal dictators, like Vladimir Putin. So we have to continue. Right. We

Scott Luton (00:06:55):

Have excellent point. Yeah. So you can give from what you have, right. Uh, you gotta have that wherewithal. Um, and then finally, folks, we are overwhelmed to tell the market showed up and delivered for our 2022 supply chain and procurement awards. I think we had somewhere upwards of 70 nominee, uh, nominations, uh, which is gonna drive a great gift, uh, a financial gift to our friends at hope justice, which is a nonprofit that’s tackling modern slavery and human trafficking dead on those things continue despite what else you see. And, and they have big needs despite where the world’s attention goes, but we want you to join us for May 18th, where we’re gonna have a two hour event virtual event revealing all the winners. And we’re also going to have Tim Nelson who leads is hope for justice, uh, joining us and sharing more, uh, perspective, valuable perspective on just how great, how big, how large these traves are here in our time. So join us. You can learn more at supply chain, procurement awards.com, and you can also find, uh, you know, a lot of folks with joining us via LinkedIn, and you can find the 20, 22 plot and current awards there where you can sign up

Greg White (00:08:02):

Where over 500 of your colleagues have already signed up already in, in what, just a few days,

Scott Luton (00:08:09):

Not even a week. I don’t think Greg. So I big it is. And, and we should be, you know, there’s nothing, a few things are as enjoyable as you know, celebrating successes and innovation and folks are really are, are changing and improving industry while tackling and providing visibility and awareness to these incredible, incredibly important nonprofits and the noble missions their own. So y’all join us. And, and

Greg White (00:08:33):

Because, and because it’s an award show, I know what you all are thinking. And there will, because it’s a virtual show. There will be physical slaps, however, I will be attending virtually. So I cannot guarantee that there will be no virtual slaps.

Scott Luton (00:08:48):

<laugh> I love it. I love it, Greg. Oh, no, it’s

Greg White (00:08:52):

Good. Hey, sensationalism sells Scott Luton.

Scott Luton (00:08:55):

It does. And that I tell

Greg White (00:08:56):

You, cause let’s get ’em there.

Scott Luton (00:08:57):

Talk about things that we remember, uh, for decades to come crazy. Okay. Put ’em up, uh, put up the Dukes. Okay. Really quick. Uh, we’re gonna be bringing Mike Griswold with Gartner just in a second, but we wanna give a couple shoutouts. Josh goody is back with us from sunny Seattle, Greg,

Greg White (00:09:14):

Go outside and take a picture. It’s one of the most beautiful places on the planet when the sun is shining. It really is.

Scott Luton (00:09:20):

So I’m gonna shoot through these really quick, but Josh, great to have you here. Goals are, is tuned in from Toronto via LinkedIn. Welcome, welcome Victor tuned in from Ireland via LinkedIn. Great to have you here, Victor out. Thank you very much.

Greg White (00:09:34):

How’s I’m going with,

Scott Luton (00:09:35):

I need about seven. I need one more cup of coffee, which would put me right at, uh, about 20 for the day, but ODI. Great to have you here today. Uh, tuned in from whole via LinkedIn. Thanks so much Mohamed tuned in from Egypt via LinkedIn, Jonathan Walsh, Schlager tuned in from New Jersey via LinkedIn. I hope I got that right, Greg?

Greg White (00:09:54):

Yeah.

Scott Luton (00:09:54):

Michael Jones. I think he’s in salt lake city. Mm bummer. There’s no good snow <laugh>

Greg White (00:10:02):

But still how’s that possible? Still a great day. He’s gonna have to explain that

Scott Luton (00:10:07):

He will have to explain that Ola tuned in via LinkedIn. Great sea adjacent T Hopkins is very, there he is.

Greg White (00:10:13):

Thank

Scott Luton (00:10:13):

The gamma fan that finds himself in Washington, 10 DC. ISTI tuned in from Denmark via LinkedIn. Great to see you here. Of course, Dr. Rhonda is back with us. Uh, Greg, I think she likes your, your nickname on the front end.

Greg White (00:10:29):

<laugh>

Scott Luton (00:10:30):

Uh, Jonathan Philippi says shout out to all lefties, Jonathan,

Greg White (00:10:36):

That

Scott Luton (00:10:37):

Via LinkedIn as well go left. So to the left. Hey, I know we couldn’t get everybody here today, but welcome. We look forward to your perspective. We’re gonna be sharing throughout our conversation with the one only Mike Griswold. And with that said, Greg, let’s welcome in, uh, Mike Griswold, vice president analyst with Gartner.

Greg White (00:10:55):

Amen.

Scott Luton (00:11:00):

Hey Mike, how you doing?

Greg White (00:11:03):

Uhoh oh, there he is.

Mike Griswold (00:11:04):

Hey everyone.

Scott Luton (00:11:06):

Good to see you. How, how are things where you are?

Mike Griswold (00:11:09):

Hey, uh, things are they’re great. I’m not too far from salt lake city and we got some snow in the mountains, but uh, I’m not a skier and I don’t know that it would be good skiing here just outside of Boise, but, uh, so is

Greg White (00:11:18):

That, what do you think? That’s what it meant by yes. A good day. Okay. Got it. Got it.

Mike Griswold (00:11:23):

Yep. So I’m doing well. Great to see everyone. Um, I, I, I did a, a presentation a couple years ago. Fun fact, most people that are ambidextrous actually started out as lefthanders, uh, because they had to learn everything is designed for right-handed people, scissors, et cetera, et cetera. So I, or as was it Charles Barkley? Um, uh, they’re amphibious. So yes,

Greg White (00:11:47):

<laugh>, they’re amphibious

Scott Luton (00:11:48):

Lot

Mike Griswold (00:11:48):

That ambidextrous they’re amphibious.

Scott Luton (00:11:51):

Well, so speaking of Charles Barkley people, we love, of course we’re all big fans of Mike Griswold. I look at what Dr. Ronda says here, and, uh, Mike’s Mike’s own. He’s great. He has a calming and informative vibe. Always learned so much from him. We’re with you. Uh, Dr. So I,

Mike Griswold (00:12:07):

So I’ll I’ll date myself, Dr. Ronda. I would’ve said the check is in the mail, but now I think it’s probably what Venmo, I’ve gotta Mo you, something out

Greg White (00:12:14):

Venmo is in your phone, whatever. Yeah.

Mike Griswold (00:12:17):

Whatever there, but thank you. I appreciate

Scott Luton (00:12:18):

That. Love it, love it. Uh, and let’s see here, Michael Jones says, uh, talking about skiing. He doesn’t get outta bed for less than eight inches of fresh powder there. About that

Mike Griswold (00:12:29):

Looking like a true skier. Yes. Yes.

Greg White (00:12:30):

That’s true. Hey man, lift tickets are expensive these days,

Mike Griswold (00:12:34):

Like oh, yes. Right.

Scott Luton (00:12:36):

So, um, alright, so skiing. We’ve already broken the seal on sports. Yeah. And that’s where we’re gonna start here today, before we get into our heavy lifting, uh, folks, um, so many sports things going on right now, but we’re right on the heels of that exciting Kansas North Carolina. Yep. Final championship game for, uh, men’s basketball, Mike, couple key takeaways from what’s a stunning comeback for the Jayhawks, right?

Mike Griswold (00:13:01):

Yeah. It was, um, it was, you know, uh, the, uh, a tale of two cities, right? Best of times, worst of times if you’re a Carolina fan. I, I think from, you know, what can you take from a life lessons per is, is it’s really about making adjustments? You know, I think we’ve, we’ve talked in our time together, lots of times, about how, you know, how do you as an organization make adjustments to, to a business plan, to a strategy based on the environment. I think, you know, it was clear that Kansas made better second half adjustments than North Carolina. Yeah. Uh, and it was also clear. I think that that Carolina people tend to forget, I think it was three games earlier. They blew a 25 point lead to Baylor and had to win that game in overtime. So as that game started to get closer and closer, I think there certainly had to be some reflective on North Carolina around man, are we in the same boat that we were before, you know, to their credit, you know, they rallied and it, it went down to the wire.

Mike Griswold (00:14:03):

But to, to me, the key to that game was the ability of Kansas to kinda recognize who they were, what got them there. And the ability to get back to that, whether that’s mm-hmm, <affirmative>, you know, going down low with, with guards and, and forwards, whether it was getting transition points and, and frankly, you know, playing better defense, um, you know, they got offensive rebounded to death in the first half. Yeah. Um, second chance points were huge for Carolina in the first half. And, and most of that went away in the second half. So to me, that was the key. And, you know, they, they talk a lot about, you know, the NBA is a player’s league. I think college is still a coach’s league. Uh, the players are becoming more and more prevalent, but I think you saw that in the second half of Kansas with bill self, you know, take drawing on his coaching experience and making the appropriate adjustments.

Mike Griswold (00:14:59):

But again, I mean, there were 70,000 people there. I think it’s, I didn’t see the ratings. I hope the ratings did well, but if you like an exciting game, hopefully didn’t turn it off at halftime. But my last comment is they need, I saw and I’m not on Twitter. So I got this indirectly, there were a lot of people upset about the start time, nine 20 in the east. Anyone that wants to live in mountain time. That’s the perfect time zone tip off for us was seven 20. Having said that, you know, the Monday night football moved back by an hour major league baseball and the playoffs has done things around time adjustments. So you don’t lose the east coast. Um, I think, I think basketball college basketball needs to think about the same thing, um, for, for that game to tip off at nine 20 Eastern <affirmative> to basically lose potentially a good chunk of your audience at halftime because, you know, people have jobs on Tuesday morning, right. I, I really wish they would look at that. Um, because I think that game had an opportunity to, to really reel in more people that may have been casual fans, but not at a 1130 at night. And if you wanted to stay up to watch one shining moment, that was probably midnight Eastern time.

Scott Luton (00:16:18):

Right. Greg, I gotta, I I’ll I’ll own up to it. I didn’t watch a single dribble of that game, Greg, but based on what Mike shared, what, what say you

Greg White (00:16:28):

Well, I did. And you, you saw me on Tuesday. I paid for it. I mean, I didn’t even have a single cold beer, but I was still beat to death the next day because of that. So, um, I definitely empathize with that and agree with Mike on the time zone thing and during NFL football, it’s also nice yes. To, uh, get out of early service and go immediately to watch a football game at 10:00 PM or 10:00 AM in the morning. Um, um, but I, I think one of the things that as you were talking about this Mike that this really raised and great job, by the way, tying it back into business and supply chain, because it makes me think of this, that, um, I thought about throughout the entire second half of that game, North Carolina did so very little wrong in that second half of that game.

Greg White (00:17:18):

They did not lose that game. That game was rested out of their hands by Kansas, just absolutely turning on the jets and, you know, and it makes me think how often, you know, we’ve talked about Mike and I love this phrase. We use it all the time, time rewarding the arsonist in, in supply chain <laugh> and we’ve become so aware of that, that we are less proud of being problem solvers and more, uh, you know, brute for less proud of this sort of brute force, overcoming obstacles and more proud of being an intellectual and scientific pursuit that preempts these things. And, and what that shows, what that game showed to me was even when you are very, very good, when you are, you do so very little wrong, you provide just the slightest opening to your opponent and they destroy you with fit. And it’s not unlike the supply chain, just that slightest opening, that slightest lack of transparency that slightest blind spot, you can be doing everything right. And just those few things open the door to catastrophe. And I think, um, look, um, it happens, right? Yeah. And, and, but I, I think both teams have good reason to be very, very with their performance through the entire tournament. And, you know, not only is North Carolina better than, than whatever it is, 65 other teams, 64 other teams in the tournament, they’re better than 411 other division one programs or whatever the list consists of these. So

Mike Griswold (00:18:47):

Scott, if I could real quick, I wanna, I wanna react to Greg’s comment and bring it back to kind of a business lesson, cuz I think Greg, what you said, spurred a thought, let, let’s take a look at the women’s side and Yukon Stanford. So Friday night Yukon in a game that was unfortunate that someone had to lose, they beat NC state in double overtime. They now have to play the number one seed in Stanford. Gina Orem talked about at the beginning of the, of, of the game in his press conference pre-game he basically said we have to play really, really well and Stanford has to help us cause Stanford’s a better team. They have to help us. So the game plays out, Yukon wins in then Geno’s postgame he basically says the same thing we played really well and Stanford helped us. Stanford shot something like three for 20 from the three point line, which they never do.

Mike Griswold (00:19:41):

Right? The, the message I take away from that is as a business, every day, you need to wake up thinking, how am I not gonna help the competition? How am I not going to give them something that gives them an advantage? And, and to me, when, when I heard you talk about you’re right, North Carolina really didn’t do anything overt to lose that game. Kansas made adjustments and Kansas went out and took it. If I contrast that to the Yukon Stanford women’s game, Stanford didn’t shoot. Well, Stanford had some, some brain cramps and Yukon took advantage of all of it. Mm-hmm <affirmative> um, and, and actually, I mean, for the most part, they were in control of that game, which probably should not have been the case. And to me, the that’s a huge business lesson. Do not give people an opportunity to kind of get into your space, to get into your business, to get into your functionality because good companies in the case of like Yukon, right? If you give them an opportunity like Kansas, they’re gonna take advantage of it and then you’ve got all kinds of problems.

Scott Luton (00:20:53):

Hmm. So, uh, see how,

Greg White (00:20:56):

See how he did that.

Scott Luton (00:20:57):

Yeah. Turned on a basketball game and no, uh, business class broke out. How about that? So true. Um, it

Greg White (00:21:04):

Is so true. I mean, art imitates life. It does. And sport imitates business and vice versa. So

Scott Luton (00:21:10):

Yeah, absolutely. So, uh, for the sake of time, I’m gonna skip, I wanna skip over of course, the ma uh, Augusta nationals hosting a little, little known golf turning this week. <laugh> um, those tiger woods may back. Um, we talked about that pre show really quick. Cause I think, I think speaking of optimism, we’re gonna be talking sustainability and getting some really good stuff from Mike Griswold here in just a moment, but I don’t wanna skip over this national day of hope today is the, the national day of hope here in the states, which, um, you know, there’s no shortage of things, of problems that we’re all hoping find solutions, permanent solutions, sustainable solutions. But give us, I wanna, I wanna ask you both to give us good news, some succinct, good news. So we can, we can dive head first in sustainability. What’s an observation you have based on some of the companies that you are tracking or rubbing elbows with you name it, Mike, that really gives you some, some hope for, um, moving ahead.

Mike Griswold (00:22:04):

Yeah. I, I think, you know, we, we, we talked kind of, pre-show about, you know, we’re in the middle of our top 25 season and we we’ve had, um, as part of the process, we had 50 companies give us briefings around their supply chain and, and what they’re proud of within their supply chain. And if I reflect on those briefings and I reflect on kind of the themes that came out this year compared to previous years, a lot more companies are talking a lot more, I think rightfully so and a and a lot, um, more proud of the things that they’re doing in sustainability and in de and I, there, there is just so much activity in a lot of organ in those two areas. And I think what, what gives me hope is it’s more than just kind of, we’ve gotta check these boxes.

Mike Griswold (00:23:00):

We have to talk about sustainability and we have to talk about de and I, because people expect us to, we’re talking about ’em because we truly believe that that a more diverse company makes us a better company. Right? We have data that suggests that companies that are more diverse have better financial performance, right? So it, it, it to Greg’s earlier, you know, intro about kind of the, the business value of these things. You know, the hope that I have is people not only are seeing things like sustainable and de and I as the right thing to do, they’ve also started to connect the dots that, oh, by the way, there, there there’s an intrinsic business value in doing this as well. That in those two areas, that that’s the hope that I have just based on what I’m starting to

Scott Luton (00:23:45):

See, love that Mike, uh, Greg,

Greg White (00:23:48):

I know it doesn’t always sound like it, but I am hopelessly hopeful. So, um, I <laugh>, I mean, I, I always have hope. I don’t always express hope. Usually I express the inverse that would dash said hope, but, but I’m always, you know, I always believe that there’s op there’s opportunity for improvement here. And, um, you know, I think, gosh, if there, it’s hard to pick out a single company that really inspires me, but I think one of the things that I’ve seen is, um, so many people through their companies or by their companies vector global logistic six is a great example, Enrique Alvarez and his team there. Um, taking the initiative that we talked about at the top of the show, uh, other companies that are working, um, you know, to help the people of Ukraine or whatever their, um, you know, whatever their initiatives are that the, uh, global supply chain and procurement awards, specifically funding every single dollar to hope for justice to end human slave slavery and trafficking.

Greg White (00:24:54):

Um, you know, those are the ones that just the ones that I’m kind of involved in every single day, but there are tons of them out there. And, uh, just the fact that, um, companies are run by people and people are really who drive these initiatives is what really gives me hope. There are people, there are many, many people who care and, um, and are taking action. Right, right. They’re turning that, caring into deeds, not words to quote some great philosopher that I work with every day, Scott Lu <laugh>. Um, and I think that’s so encouraging, right? Yeah.

Scott Luton (00:25:30):

I, I I’m with you. It, um, action is what it’s all about. The world can talk about the, the entire business community can talk about what should happen, what needs to happen. Uh, the folks are suffering and some, you know, but it’s about the action itself. It’s about those deeds and those examples. You Greg wonderful examples. Uh, you know, we were together yesterday with a bunch of folks that, that act take action to give back whether it’s donating to lo local, their expertise, local banks, whether it’s donating some of their, uh, some of their, um, content gin to outstanding calls. We even talked about a, um, a Juneteenth museum down in Galveston that is, uh, um, got really big news coming up, but it’s about taking action. Now, let me add, um, Audi DUL is a big fan, uh, of what both of y’all are sharing on your analysis going probably going back to the basketball game comfort, uh, also enjoys, uh, imagine that folks showing up here for some analysis, sports and otherwise, but comfort. Uh, thank you for that. And Rhonda, so it sounds like being mindful of not letting our guard down in the workplace, important to show up ready each day, fuel with a desire to kick some butt. Even if we stayed up way too late, Greg, and maybe be feeling the mental, mental, and physical consequences of lower energy pushing through and still be the best you can be easier to call in sick, but that won’t serve us well in the long haul. Dr. Rhonda bringing it, love it. Yeah. Bringing it as usual. So,

Mike Griswold (00:26:58):

So sorry, Scott. I, I didn’t know. We, we didn’t script this, but I wanna react to that. And just maybe my last cause, cuz obviously, you know, I love to talk about basketball. I, I do wanna bring Dr. Ronda’s comment in to Greg’s comment about, about kind of bringing your a game every day, Yon. And again, I, I, I, as people will now know, I love Yon women’s basketball. <laugh> close that. Yeah. Yeah. They, they went through a whole bunch of, of adversity this year from an injury perspective and they had for the first time in Geno’s career, I think he had 11 different starting lineups over a two month period, which if you watch Yukon that never happens. There’s five starters probably for four years. The reason I bring that up is, is everyone had to figure out a new role and everyone had to embrace that new role.

Mike Griswold (00:27:49):

The business lesson there is, is within your organization. People need to know their roles, but you also need to have people who are, who are able to stretch their role. Yes. And, and be able to buy into what their role is, whatever it might be, however big or however small, because you never know when your small role will become a huge role, which is what happened to Yukon. And I think that that’s an important lesson for companies as well and for individuals, right. Individuals in, in your own organization, understanding what your role is it to the best of your ability and look for opportunities to stretch your role?

Scott Luton (00:28:28):

Yeah. Well said, well said and so much great commentary between the two of y’all and all, all in the comments and folks y’all keep it coming. We wanna, we wanna bring that into the conversation as we, as we move now into sustainability and in particular, uh, sustainability, more sustainable. Right. So as simple as that sounds it still, we need to call time out and stop and think about that. Right. Um, so we’ve already got some questions and comments and we’ll get to those in a minute, but Mike, I want, I wanna give you, let you start with the opening salvo. Right. So what are some things you’re seeing? What are some observations have out there with organizations that are doing just that making their sustainability more sustainable?

Mike Griswold (00:29:12):

Yeah, I think, um, lemme just maybe give people a real quick context and I promise it will not, it will not be within the context of Yukon basketball. <laugh> so, um, I, I, I became a team

Scott Luton (00:29:22):

Today’s supply chain now livestream brought to you by the Yukons Huskies. Is there a

Mike Griswold (00:29:26):

That’s right. Um, so about a year year and like 15 months ago I became a TM and a team manager. And we recently went through some reorg, uh, and on April 1st, my team now can, is focused in two areas, supply chain, talent and sustainability. So I’ve had, I’m learning a lot more about sustainability, um, than, than I knew in the past. And it’s one of the reasons that I wanted to talk a little bit about it today, but it’s also the reason that as I mentioned, the pre-show, I’ve got a bunch of notes, cuz this is a, this is a new area for me, but to your quest, um, Scott and Greg, you, when I look at organizations that are doing this well, a couple things have happened. They, they recognize that there needs to be an intersection between macro supply chain trends like inflation, increasing shareholder expectations or around what we’re going to do from a sustain sustainability perspective.

Mike Griswold (00:30:25):

Right? We’ve got data to suggest that there is a growing trend of people wanting to engage with more sustainable companies and more sustainable products and doing that via their wallet, right. Voting with their wallet around companies and products. And then, and then other macro trend is, is how do we kind of scale that? Um, from an impact perspective, the intersection though, between those trends that affect the entire supply chain and sustainability are in areas like climate change, right? How do we, how do we understand the effect of climate chains as it relates to the supply chain, long term resource preservation, and then one of the areas that we’re really getting into. And in fact, I have on my team, an open job requisition for a sustainability technology analyst, what’s the role that technology is gonna play in that convergence or the macro trends and these sustainability trends.

Mike Griswold (00:31:28):

And when I think about technology, I really think there and would love Greg’s view on this. I think technology, as it relates to sustainability is really on, in, in two paths that are not, they are not mutually exclusive. In fact, they’re probably concurrent what type of technology can make me more sustainable. And secondly, what type of technology helps me understand how sustainable am I right from a reporting perspective? So, you know, companies that are doing this well are, are recognizing that we have to inter act these overarching macro supply chain trends with these emerging sustainability trends. And, and how do we do that? Knowing more and more people are watching this and more and more people are willing to vote with their wallets around how well you answer that second portion around those sustainability trends. So that was my first observation, um, Scott and Greg, around where I’m seeing and how I’m seeing companies navigate that this, this intersection.

Scott Luton (00:32:35):

I love that Greg.

Greg White (00:32:36):

Yeah. I think, uh, technologies and processes, uh, are critical to, um, to creating more sustainability in company supply chains and supply chain is one of the biggest contributors to both goodness and badness in, in sustainability and so many other ESG initiatives. So I think we have a incredibly huge responsibility there, but also an incredible awareness. And strangely, I think guys, that awareness has become higher as we’ve had the, I’m not gonna call it a distraction, but we’ve had our mind on other things. Yes. Like COVID um, and somehow we have elevated the awareness of, of sustainability and, and human rights and fair trade and all of those things during this time. Um, so yeah, I agree. I think that is huge to your, uh, you know, to your point around the technology that helps you verify or understand mm-hmm, <affirmative> your contribution to goodness or badness in terms of sustainability. Absolutely critical. Look just like anything else in supply chain, blind spots are bad, right? Lack of transparency. You know, we talk about, what’s the number one question in supply chain right now, Scott Luton, you

Scott Luton (00:33:52):

Where’s my stuff. Where’s my stuff.

Greg White (00:33:54):

Where’s my stuff. The other thing is, you know, as long as you’re asking that question, how much fuel does my stuff costing? Right, right. Whose lives is it impacting, uh, what sources are being used? Right. All of those things, um, are, are areas where we need transparency. So yes, I think anything Mike that contributes to the transparency and the accountability and I don’t necessarily mean like legal or even compliance. Right. Accountability, just understanding that you are making an impact it’s good or it’s bad. And to what extent it is either is incredibly valuable technology. And um, I mean, absolutely mission critical to it. The other thing is, and I think this, this is not higher than sustainability, but this goes to the global, uh, supply chain craft. And that is, we have to understand where we are being efficient or inefficient wasteful or thrifty or otherwise. Um, in order to assure that we are, are appropriately, are appropriately contributing to sustainability and that transparency lack is lacking even within an enterprise, much less in, in this global supply chain that we have today. So I think that is job. One is understanding who you’re doing business with, how they do business, um, how much control it impact or, um, or oversight you can have of them and of yourself to assure that you’re contributing appropriately to sustainability.

Scott Luton (00:35:32):

Well said really quick, Mike, before you continue there really quick. I think, I think for, for, uh, background, uh, for all of our listeners, if they’re not aware yet, uh, the 17 sustainable development goals via the United nations and both of y’all are speaking to how holistic, uh, and how integrated into everything you’re doing, that your sustainability, um, approach must be. I think that that offers up a great background for folks that may not have hit their radar yet. But Mike, you were gonna, uh, comment on Blake’s take there.

Mike Griswold (00:36:03):

Yeah. I, I think one of the things I noticed in our top 25 companies is, you know, you’re seeing more and more companies while they’re, while they’re offering obviously a physical supply chain, they’re also offering, excuse me, a services supply chain, whether that’s things in the cloud, whatever it might be. And, and we’re seeing a growth in, in data centers. What I, what I’ve observed is more and more companies internally discussing kind of the ramifications of some of those decisions. Like, okay, we now need, need more data centers. Well guess what data centers, you know, if you left to their own devices, aren’t necessarily the most efficient uses of energy. Right? But in that same conversation that, that we’re having with these companies that say, Hey, we’re looking to services and, and maybe we’re looking to expand our presence and data centers in that same breath they’re saying, and oh, by the way, here’s how we’re gonna power these data centers.

Mike Griswold (00:37:00):

Right. We’re gonna go to much more renewable energy. We’re gonna look at alternative sources of driving energy within the data center. So three or four years ago, I think people would’ve said, yeah, let’s have more data centers and, and not necessarily think about the unattended unintended consequences of that from a sustainability perspective. Now I think people have definitely connected those dots and they recognize that if, if our business model is going to evolve to a services, data intensive data center orientation, we have a responsibility to talk about how are we gonna power those data centers? And I see a lot more people talking about that, which is good.

Greg White (00:37:46):

Yeah. Yeah.

Scott Luton (00:37:47):

I wanna throw out, um, David, uh, has, uh, he was also let me go back. He was also talking earlier about basketball. Third year, big 12 team has been the championship game one at two years in a row, all different teams, David, a lot of good stuff there, big 12 is showing some, some basketball prowes for sure.

Greg White (00:38:05):

Which means people can stop complaining about the S E being in the football finals every year as well. There

Scott Luton (00:38:12):

You go. There you go.

Greg White (00:38:13):

Don’t say it like don’t you even go there.

Mike Griswold (00:38:15):

No. And, and we can also, you know, stop whining about how, uh, how we thought the ACC was down given they had half of the final four, but no

Greg White (00:38:24):

Kidding. Great,

Mike Griswold (00:38:25):

Great observation on the big 12.

Scott Luton (00:38:27):

Yeah, that’s right. Um, but then more to the point, uh, we’re talking about sustainability, he, he poses a couple of interesting questions and I’d love to get both of you’all to kind of weigh in on this, uh, cuz this is kind of where I think the sustainability of movement is trying to find more traction globally. Right. And when it comes to accountability for organizations, right. Um, so, so he says sustainability, the concept is fabulous. Again, this David, uh, clue, how is it being measured and what are key industry benchmarks that have teeth, any, any comments there and, and Mike, I’ll start with you and then I’ll, I’ll circle back to Greg.

Mike Griswold (00:39:04):

Yeah. This is definitely a new area for me. I David, if you wanna reach out, I think we’ve got a research note that we wrote about emerging sustainability metrics. So I don’t have anything really top of mind. It’s a great question. Greenhouse gas emission seems to be one of the big ones that that’s coming up, um, getting to, um, you know, net carbon net zero seems to be another one, but I, I think to be fair, it is still an emerging area from an industry perspective, I think around what those metrics are and, and what are the ones that, that really kind of drive value versus, you know, get a lot of media attention, but maybe aren’t to Greg’s earlier comments. Maybe they aren’t the best indicator of driving a improve business performance. Right. Mm-hmm <affirmative> and I think at Gartner, what we’re trying to find is that balance right.

Mike Griswold (00:40:03):

And, and help our clients with here’s a set of metrics that not only kind of convey outwardly your commitment to sustainability, but they also actually drive value for you as a BI. And you know, my, my last observation would be that that’s definitely the right question to ask around the metrics, to Greg’s comment about visibility and transparency, you know, without the metrics, you have no idea if you’re going in the right direction, you have no idea if you’re doing the right stuff. So I think it it’s, it’s not the specific answer I wish I could give, but there’s more to come in this area and it’s definitely the right question to be asking around how do we know what good looks like?

Scott Luton (00:40:46):

I love that. I appreciate your honesty there. And uh, I like one of the, your comments, key comments you made there, it’s gotta fit into the business. Cause it goes back to what Greg was saying earlier. I, if it’s just a standard, uh, sustainability to be sustainable and it doesn’t impact the business bottom line, it’s not gonna be sustainable and, and we’re not gonna be able to drive as much. Good. Uh, so I love what both y’all are sharing before Greg, I come to you. I gotta bring in this comment. Uh, I think this is Edward Edward says, I love that you guys are mixing up sports and it looks like he wants us to talk a little more about music. Hey, we’re maybe we’ll hit music next. Uh, Greg is always very musical in his commentary here today, but Greg, speak to, uh, David’s uh, questions if you would or what Mike just shared.

Greg White (00:41:27):

Yeah, well like anything on the international stage, there is very little that has actual teeth, right? International law in and of itself does not have teeth because there is not actually an enforcing agency. So, um, but I, I gotta tell you, I have, again, hopelessly hopeful. I have, I have kind of a vision towards the future. That goes to my least favorite of our government agencies in the states, the IRS and, and a tactic used by most people’s least favorite agency in the United States, the us, uh, customs and border patrol. Um, but what they do that I think is a great business model for the future is they assume you are non-compliant until you prove that you are. And to date, we have accepted plausible deniability, right? We have a allowed companies to sort of go under the radar with their indiscretions and, and you know, and inequities and, and unsustainability and in some cases outright criminal activity. But I think if we flip the script there and we assume at some point, somehow the community comes together and assumes you are non-compliant unless you prove that you are, that will create the ultimate accountability. I I’ve talked about this and some of the commentaries that I’ve done, um, on LinkedIn, where we assume you are not a good member of the club, unless you show us that you are mm-hmm

Scott Luton (00:42:59):

<affirmative>,

Greg White (00:43:00):

Um,

Scott Luton (00:43:00):

That’s, that’s powerful. And, and, and, and we’re seeing that, uh, that, that, uh, wheel turning in, in a variety of different areas, including sustainability. I wanna add, uh, PMI. I wanna add a couple quick comments and we, and we’re kind of, we’re moving fast and we still wanna get some updates from Mike and some other cool things at Gartner, uh, PME enjoyed an earlier comment. I think that Greg mentioned, uh, what life is the product impacting understanding who you do business with is so key there PME excellent point. But sheer says from my point of view, sustainability should be part of company culture. The same as quality. Any efforts to input sustainability at any company are gonna fail without everyone’s contributions per share. Excellent point.

Mike Griswold (00:43:43):

Yeah.

Scott Luton (00:43:43):

Greg,

Mike Griswold (00:43:44):

If I could react to that real quickly, it’s an excellent observation. And what I, what I have seen my sense is Greg, you and Scott have seen it as well. If we rewind the clock five years, any sustain a discussion was coming from a corporate communications office, right? Yeah. <laugh> that, and that’s the same person PR basically, right? Right. It’s the same person that’s talking about recalls. That’s the same person that’s talking about. You know, we’re launching these new products fast forward to today. And I would suggest most organizations have now embedded some form of sustainability in the business, whether that’s in the supply chain, it could be in product development. It could be in multiple parts, but we’ve moved it from kind of this, this, you know, talking head environment to the people that are actually making it work. And I think that’s a huge step for us over the last four or five years. And I think to your point, Greg, it starts to demonstrate commitment. Um, by moving it into line of business, we, we are starting to signal how important it is to us.

Scott Luton (00:44:53):

Yep.

Greg White (00:44:54):

And I think Gartner has played an important role there because you’ve shifted how you create accountability vis Avi, the top 25. Right. Right. You’ve shifted it from, are you saying you’re doing the right thing to, are you building organizations and, you know, and actions that, that, that move you the right right direction. So, yeah. I mean, I think you, you guys play a large part in that as an independent analyst organization in being able to instill those qualities in companies who want to be ranked high for having a great company and great supply chain.

Mike Griswold (00:45:25):

I, I appreciate that Greg, for the, for the, the evaluation they’re doing, we’re doing now for 2022, our ESG component is 20% of the methodology. Wow. 20%. Yeah. That’s

Greg White (00:45:37):

Huge.

Mike Griswold (00:45:38):

It’s, it’s important. And, and people are telling us in our community that it’s important and, you know, we wanna reflect that in the methodology.

Scott Luton (00:45:46):

Right. Um, okay. I wanna get to a couple quick comments and then I wanna get an on the top 25, uh, Mike and sure. The supply chain symposium that’s coming up in, uh, Orlando right around the corner really quick. Uh, Josh is talking about the best part of COVID restrictions is it’s being lifted in Seattle. The music scene is back on and running free. Awesome. Josh, um, That’s right. Uh, Audi de says, talking about the introduction of technology into a business to help it understand how sustainable it is, to what extent can it go without negatively impacting its profit. Having in mind that triple bottom line kind of going back to it’s gotta benefit the business as well for it to be as, um, as powerful one impactful as possible. Um, Mike, uh, Greg responded out really quick. Greg, if you would, cause you were talking about technology, uh, earlier,

Greg White (00:46:41):

I think, I think sustainability is much like supply chain these days, formally supply chain. Was that necessary evil then Mike, you and I talked about, it seems like a decade ago being a, uh, uh, uh, a, uh, competitive differentiation. Yep. Now it, sustainability and supply chain are primary contributors to your brand equity, to the esteem of your company. And you have to acknowledge that not only does sustainability, like supply chain impact your bottom line, but it can also impact your top line. If you, you don’t deliver, for instance, through your supply chain, people stop coming to buy stuff from you. Likewise, with supply chain, as Mike talked about a little bit earlier, if, if you don’t represent, if you don’t present and you don’t, uh, deliver on sustainability, you can’t, you can’t just apply the impact of your sustainability efforts to your bottom line. You have to, you have to apply some ACC creative effect to your top line as well, because it will help increase or at least maintain your top line. If you are a good actor in terms of sustainability.

Mike Griswold (00:47:47):

Well, it’s also, it’s also Greg, a huge, I shouldn’t say huge. It’s becoming to certain demographics, it’s becoming part of their hiring decision. Do I wanna go work for this company? Part of that decision is the sustainability, um, you know, face that these companies put forward. And we all know that there is an challenge now in finding talent mm-hmm <affirmative>. And I think over time, we’re gonna look back and say that, that sustainability perspective that someone talks about with, with new employees or potential employees that the importance to that I think is just gonna grow in terms of that being more and more important to people, especially now in environment where you can work list anywhere.

Scott Luton (00:48:30):

Right. Okay. Uh, let’s see here, uh, Feme also enjoyed, uh, the industry benchmarks question, uh, that David shared, uh, Ron is talking about how we can certainly all seem or even feel guilty until proven innocent with some governmental re regulations. Excellent point. Uh, Michael says it’s a lot easier get buy in now that more people are aware of what sustainability is and how it can benefit the organization. That was not the case five to 10 years ago. Excellent point there, likewise

Greg White (00:48:59):

With supply chain, by the way, each

Scott Luton (00:49:00):

Point that’s right. Yeah. That’s right.

Mike Griswold (00:49:02):

Well, the other, I mean, Michael’s, point’s fantastic. Cuz the other thing it does is when, when you look around kind of the virtual room at your editors, right. You do not wanna be the least sustainable person in that room. Right. Right. So in, in some ways I think some of the people that, that moved first in these areas around sustainability, they kinda lifted the water for lifted the boats for everybody. Right. And now it’s, you know, I, I, I don’t wanna look around the room and be the least sustain here. Right. So I think that that peer pressure, uh, I read a book by a Navy seal and said, peer pressure can make you do two things. It can make you smoke cigarettes. It can make you diffuse bombs. I think peer pressure in this area. Right. Does same thing. Righting force you to be more sustainable

Greg White (00:49:51):

Question.

Scott Luton (00:49:51):

Love that. Uh, you remember the name of that book, Mike?

Mike Griswold (00:49:55):

Uh, I do not, but, but I can find it for you. Yeah. Yeah. We’ll see. It was very good.

Scott Luton (00:50:00):

Okay. All right. So as we’re coming down the home stretch, uh, there’s so much more to the sustainability conversation, as we all know, it’s tough to get in, you know, in, in, in a 20 minute segment, but uh, we’ll have of course Mike back Mike is typically the first wins of each month. We’ve been doing a show with Mike for a, I won’t say a couple years now, Mike. Um, yeah, yeah.

Greg White (00:50:20):

It’s forever.

Mike Griswold (00:50:21):

Yeah. I, I really enjoy, uh, spending time with you and Greg. Obviously I enjoy spending time with the people that carve out time for us. So I, I really enjoy doing this

Scott Luton (00:50:30):

Well, you know, I’ve earned a PhD from those two years, <laugh> uh, with you and Greg. So I enjoy it as well. Um, so let’s give some folks, some, some things that be look out for sure. Of course the Gartner top 25, uh, supply chain list is, is always, uh, something we all look forward to. We all love our lists. We all love supply chain and gosh, we put those two things together. It always provides benchmarking opportunities, things to do things not to do. Uh, Mike, what’s the latest with, with, with the top 25?

Mike Griswold (00:50:59):

Yeah. So we are, we’re in the midst of, of top 25 season. Now it will culminate, uh, if people wanted to mark this on their calendars, May 26th at 9:00 AM. Eastern is the reveal. So we, the, the last couple of years we’ve done a reveal via webinar. Uh, we’re averaging, you know, two to 3000 people, uh, on the webinar. Um, so that, that will be the first review, uh, reveal of our 2022 list, the top 25 in the masters. Uh, the research published shortly thereafter. Uh, our symposium is, uh, June 6th. Uh, we are planning on doing that in person in Orlando. Um, it’s gonna run the sixth, the seventh and I think a half day on the eighth. So Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Tuesday evening, um, my, myself and another analyst are doing a presentation on, you know, kinda what have we learned from these companies? You know, we’re calling, you know, lessons from leaders, but we would’ve already done the reveal.

Mike Griswold (00:51:58):

So it’s really gonna be a quick, Hey, in case you missed it, here’s our top 25 on our masters. But what people tell us they get a lot out of is what can I learn from these kind companies? Yeah. So we’ll talk about, you know, the three macro trends that we saw merge in these companies. We’ll talk about some of the traits that they have, and then we’ll share some examples, uh, of what, uh, companies have done in our top 25, uh, in those areas. So love it. I’m really looking forward to it. I, I I’m. So looking forward to getting back in person, uh, yes, for our event, uh, hopefully people are as excited as we are about getting back in person.

Greg White (00:52:36):

And where’s that event,

Mike Griswold (00:52:37):

Mike it’s in Orlando, uh, at the dolphin and Swan, you know, we, for anyone that’s been, you know, with us on this journey, you know, we, we just literally outgrew Phoenix, um, way back in time. Uh, it was at the pian, then it went to the JW Marriot, and now it’s the same venue that Gardner uses for the it symposium, uh, and for some of their other big events. So it’s a, it’s a very good venue. I haven’t been there yet, but, uh, good venue. Um, and, and logistics should be good cuz we’ve been there multiple times. So I I’m real for that.

Scott Luton (00:53:11):

We

Greg White (00:53:11):

Are important and motivating factor Mike, uh, any reports that you have received on the golf course?

Mike Griswold (00:53:19):

I have, I have, I, I made myself a note yesterday and, and missed it to go look at the website to see what golf course is there and how close it is. Um, you know, obviously we were spoiled in Phoenix with having right, you know, courses right at the finish and right at the Marriott. So hopefully there’s something that’s, you know, navigatable for me, uh, in Orlando,

Scott Luton (00:53:41):

Undoubtedly. Okay. A really quick, uh, this check has a great point here, uh, besides introducing technology, which basically provides efficiency, less distorted data, visibility of supply chain, et cetera. It’s also important to consider supplier optimization modes of transportation and inventory control systems, et cetera, all of those important factors as you holistically, try to power your sustainability, um, sport.

Mike Griswold (00:54:08):

That’s a great point. One of the things I think it was to Edwards earlier, comment around the metrics. One of the things that’s definitely emerging as a quasi is, is how well can an organization influence their upstream partners, sustainability goals. It’s one thing for me to have my sustainability goals, chances are I need my suppliers help to deliver my sustainability goals. We’re finding more and more companies working really hard to get the, that transference between what their sustainability goals and what their suppliers are. Walmart partly be cuz of who they are, right. Walmart is working really hard at this with their suppliers. And I think doing a good job of, of kind of cascading, which probably isn’t the right way to say it, but cascading up what they want, their supplier sustainability goals to be that align with theirs. So that’s a great connection and a great observation

Greg White (00:55:06):

And agree.

Scott Luton (00:55:07):

Okay. So we talked top 25, we talked about supply chain symposium, who knows. We may see you down there, Mike. Uh, I do know big, thanks. You Cora Jose and the whole Gartner team for bringing in Tim Nelson with hope for justice. Nice. He’s got an incredible message that I think is gonna open up a lot of folks eyes. So thank y’all to the Gartner team for, and that happened and big. Thanks for joining us here today. Uh, how can folks connect with Mike Griswold?

Mike Griswold (00:55:33):

Uh, LinkedIn and, and, and really I encourage people cuz I’m still relatively old school. Just send me an email, right? I, I, I’m still an email guy, uh, Mike dot Griswold, gartner.com. Um, happy to, to help, uh, in any way I can. And, and I enjoy spending time with, with everyone, um, on these sessions. So I’m already looking forward to me.

Scott Luton (00:55:54):

Wonderful. Well big thanks to the one and only Mike Griswold, uh, vice president analyst with Gartner. We hope to see you look forward to see you next month.

Mike Griswold (00:56:03):

Sounds good. Thanks everyone. Thanks. Bye-bye

Scott Luton (00:56:05):

Thanks Mike.

Greg White (00:56:06):

Take care.

Scott Luton (00:56:10):

All right. So there will be a quiz. Uh, I believe Greg, um, on everything that you and Mike and everyone in the comments, we had a bunch of great comments here today. In fact, I’m gonna try to share a couple more before we, we wrap, but I wanna ask you the trillion dollar question know inflation’s a, inflation’s a beast these days. Tell

Greg White (00:56:30):

Me about

Scott Luton (00:56:30):

It. Well, what is, what is, if you had to pick one or two things that great, uh, that Mike shared here today, what are a couple of your favorites? Well,

Greg White (00:56:39):

I mean, it’s not, it’s not as much what he said as what Gartner is doing. Um, it is twofold one. They are, they are, um, increasing the visibility of sustainability in their evaluation of supply chains. And again, as I said, as the unquestionably, most respected analyst organization on the planet as regards technology supply chain and other aspects of business. That is a huge move on their part. It’s impossible to overstate how impactful that is because everyone in industry, whether they are a practitioner like Walmart, or they are a service provider like SAP, they are all courting the favor of Gartner because Gartner, because of, or integrity, because of the, obviously the quality of their people, as you see from Mike, the quality of research that’s provided to them and, and their neutrality, right? Their complete and utter objectivity. I think they create such an incredible credibility matrix, incredible credibility is that I,

Scott Luton (00:57:42):

I was gonna go with it. I was with it,

Greg White (00:57:45):

Uh, incredible credibility, uh, statement. And, and when they put their efforts towards trying to drive an industry a certain direction, that industry has to respond.

Greg White (00:57:57):

Yes. So that action that small, relatively seemingly small action, um, that they have undertaken is gonna gonna be hugely impactful. So I think that is the number one thing that I see here. The other thing that I see by the way is Mike saying, and we all know what quality individual Mike is, former practitioner, right? Longtime analyst, obviously an authority and guide to so many companies in the supply chain already when he says, he’s not that familiar with, with sustainability. And then he brings it like he did today. I think that, again goes to the quality of, of person that Mike Griswold is. I’ve known him for a long time. I’ve seen it in person, actually in person. I mean like physically in person, um, and here even more so, um, you know, so, uh, those are, those are two, two big impacts.

Scott Luton (00:58:51):

I agreed. I agree with you. Um, want to bring in a couple final comments and we’re gonna wrap here today. Our friend, Jenny pats office is with us. She really enjoyed the connection between leadership and basketball. That was a, that was worth a full, we, we could have done a full blown couple hour

Greg White (00:59:06):

On that just got started. Yeah.

Scott Luton (00:59:08):

Um, great.

Greg White (00:59:09):

We spent almost the whole, pre-show talking about that,

Scott Luton (00:59:11):

Right? We did. That is right. We got a full blown analysis. Uh, uh, she says great lessons from coach K at duke in his last year as well. And on sustainability, she just heard some great advice from a chief supply chain officer at a large company, make it a priority, or it will be a burden. Excellent point there. Talk about burdens

Greg White (00:59:30):

Somebody we know I’m not gonna many names, but sounds like

Scott Luton (00:59:33):

<laugh> beasts and burdens and, and, um, lines and tires and bears owe my, I tell you it’s an obstacle course across level business right now. Uh, Dr. Ronda, thanks for your feedback. Really enjoyed your perspective throughout today’s show. Yeah. Um, so keep it coming. Uh, Greg always a pleasure. Mike is a home run, uh, each and every time really enjoy, you know, kind of what Dr. Ronda said, well, say it on the front end, we hear that about Mike all the time, which, which is, is why we invest in a series. He always brings it. Um, folks one more time and Hey, uh, y’all, y’all just forgive me for beating the dead horse, but Hey, we talked about taking action throughout the whole hour here today, and this is an easy opportunity. All you gotta do is click on the, the, uh, registration link and then just sit and listen, just soak it in.

Scott Luton (01:00:21):

You never know what epiphany might have that will put you in prime position to help folks in need and Ukraine, Poland, and elsewhere. So today 3:00 PM Eastern time, join us for leveraging logistics for Ukraine. Okay, Greg, that does it for us today. Great to see you and the whole gang yesterday. Well, we had a lot of the gang, not everybody. Uh, we were missing Kelly and Billy and a few others, uh, Mary Kate, and, and Allison, you name it, but we had a wonderful time enjoying other’s camaraderie, knocking out some, uh, some, uh, video shoots and, um, stay tuned for big things to come. Uh, Greg, hopefully we can beat the rain this afternoon. We’ll see. But, uh, folks be sure to join us Friday, we’re gonna be sitting down with Stephanie Stuckey live at 12 in the Eastern time. We’re gonna be talking about two of the, I can’t wait to get Stephanie and Greg together talking about fundraising and making sure everyone has access to capital that, that critical capital that we all need to grow and to do as much, uh, good as, as possible. Right, Greg?

Greg White (01:01:25):

Yeah. I I’m look really looking forward to it. It’s fascinating to kind of follow Stephanie’s story of effectively saving the family business. Um, and, uh, you know, I saw an article that she mentioned where she was like seventh in line to do so. And it wasn’t until nobody else would do it, that she, he was frankly compelled, I think by her own, you know, her own initiative to, to take the reins, right.

Scott Luton (01:01:52):

We, along those lines, Greg would, I also have gathered from Stephanie and, and, and, and she’s gonna, we’re calling it unscripted on Friday. You’re gonna, I mean, it’s gonna be Frank, uh, folks bring your questions. She wants to tackle ’em he’s gonna be very, it’s gonna be a very transparent session. But Greg, along those lines that you were just sharing. She had a very close family member. I believe I let her talk about it on Friday that said, you can’t do this and I’ll be darn, they are doing it. And then some, so folks join us 12 new, Eastern time for intriguing livestream there on behalf of Greg white, big thanks to our production team, Catherine, Amanda Chantel. Y’all knocked it out today as always big. Thanks to what you do, but folks, whatever you do, if you can’t join us at three, if you can’t, uh, do one of the other things we talked about here today, just find a way, find a way to do good to give forward and to be the change that’s needed on that note. We’ll see you next time. Right back here on supply chain. Now, thanks everybody

Greg White (01:02:47):

With my left hand.

Intro/Outro (01:02:50):

Thanks for being a part of our supply chain. Now, community check out all of our programming@supplychainnow.com and make sure you drive to supply chain. Now anywhere you listen to podcasts and follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram. See you next time on supply chain. Now.