Books As a Proxy for Free Thought

Art of Supply

“If all printers were determined not to print anything till they were sure it would offend nobody, there would be very little printed.” ― Benjamin Franklin

Banned Book Week was started in 1982 to call attention to censorship and intellectual freedom. In 2023, it runs from October 1-7, culminating with Let Freedom Read day on Saturday the 7th.

This week and the many events that will fill it may be driven by librarians, but the premise behind it is one that every adult should be able to embrace. Nobody should tell you what information you can read, because no one has the right to tell you what to think.

That is as true in procurement and supply chain today as it should have been when Galileo found himself under house arrest for daring to suggest that the earth rotates around the sun.

In this week’s episode of Dial P for Procurement, Kelly Barner applies the mission and intent of Banned Books Week to the tough conversations that need to take place in procurement and the supply chain today:

• Why staying silent out of fear makes thorny business problems impossible to solve
• The importance of intellectual curiosity to innovation and problem solving
• Why the greatest soft skill of all may be discussing a sensitive topic with someone who thinks differently than you do

Links:

• Kelly Barner on LinkedIn
• Dial P for Procurement on AOP
• Subscribe to This Week in Procurement