Making Madison

New ESG requirements will affect almost every business as investors demand more transparency and government places new demands around these issues.

Most pairings flow together naturally — peanut butter and jelly, milk and cookies, cardinal and white. Some, like the new pairing of technology and cybersecurity fit together uneasily.

It feels more permanent this time, like we’re finally moving beyond the pandemic and into some semblance of a sustainable routine.

The Wisconsin Center for Manufacturing & Productivity’s (WCMP) recent study of Wisconsin manufacturers offers some context for the disruptive times we live in and highlights how operations adjust and transform themselves for an uncertain future.

We’ve all seen the videos of those surfers riding waves taller than a building. It’s exciting and terrifying at the same time. Well, we’re about to be hit with a similar wave of economic growth. Are we ready for the ride?

I’m concerned about our future because an important part of our economic and social systems is breaking down. Our relentless focus on efficiency, results, and profitability over the past several decades eliminated important slack in our systems, reducing our resilience and ability to respond to unexpected events.

The stresses created by the pandemic, legacy problems, and accelerating change are creating a new environment where all of us will need to become lifetime learners to thrive. The complications created in this new world will also require a proactive learning approach where we lean into and learn through problems to create breakthrough solutions.

We are experiencing a bifurcated recovery, with large sectors almost fully recovered and others struggling to find any traction at all. The same is true within the manufacturing sector and that worries me. If you are a manufacturer that isn’t recovering, it’s time to panic!

It’s time for Old White Guys (OWG) to take their foot off the brakes on social change and lean into the actions that will move us toward social and economic justice.

Like most of you, I’ve been watching the ongoing energy around diversity and inclusion, forming my own opinions about what’s working and what’s holding us back in our journey to create a more just and inclusive society.