I read a quote recently, attributed to Seneca, that said, "Adversity introduces a man to himself." It stuck with me because it reminds me of what so many people experience during a recall.
Most of us try to think ahead and plan for the worst. We anticipate hardships, put a plan in place, and do our best to cover every base. All that preparation is theoretical until something tests it. You can write down exactly how you expect to respond in a crisis, and you still won't know how you'll respond when the stakes are high.
That goes for just about anyone, whether you’re FSQA, executive leadership, on the recall team, a trading partner, or someone pulling product from shelves. Adversity has a way of showing the true nature of things. In a recall, you meet the crisis version of yourself, your team, your company, and your supply chain. That version doesn't always look like the one you planned on.
I think about the military here. Imagine sending someone into battle with no basic training, no technical school, and none of the rigorous practice that comes before deployment. The distance between the recruit and the person who has to perform under fire would be enormous, and the consequences would be severe. The military understands that you don't close that distance by explaining what combat will be like. You close it by practicing under conditions that feel as close to the real thing as possible.
The same is true almost anywhere. If someone tells you they read a book about performing surgery, or flying a plane, or even swimming, you wouldn't expect much from them in the moment. Reading gives you an idea of what to do. It doesn't give you the ability to do it, and it certainly doesn't prepare you to do it well while everything around you is going wrong.
Going back to Seneca, what strikes me is the idea that there are versions of ourselves we don't know exist until we face something hard. Some of those versions surprise us in good ways, and some don't. With recalls, the goal is to meet those versions before the real event. Most companies don't go through recalls often, so if they want that experience, they have to create it. That means simulating hard situations on purpose, getting comfortable working under pressure, and building relationships ahead of time, so that when a recall comes we're working with teammates instead of strangers.
Imagination is valuable, and a good plan is a fine place to start. But it will only take you so far. What I want for any company, and for our industry, is for the person we meet in adversity to be the one we've been preparing to be every moment until then.
