There will always be challenges, and always visionaries to overcome them
“A clear challenge of the pharmaceutical industry has been highlighted by the recent pandemic, and that is the overreliance on single-sourced materials and vulnerabilities within the global supply chain. Like any other manufactured product, pharma and biopharma products are a sum of the parts, and missing any one individual component can ultimately lead to a critical drug shortage.”
– Frank Romanski, Ph.D.
As a pharmaceutical industry sales speaker, I was interested to read a recent article in Pharma’s Almanac where several industry leaders chimed in on challenges affecting those in pharmaceutical sales.
The quote above was typical in a supply chain concern, along with sustainability, healthcare inequity, development and discovery of new therapies and clinical trial access.
“Bleak Outlook, a Bad Look”
However, another industry report from a UK-based pharma consultation company stated:
“First and foremost, collaboration is key to implementing change. Strong working relationships are the linchpin of any successful supply chain, allowing for ease of communication and fast reaction to change – quite often last-minute changes.”
As a pharmaceutical industry sales speaker, it was an important range of mindset. When the pandemic began – then continued, “supply chain” became, yet again, an important not heard in decades. As industry prognosticators talked of such issues, what became apparent was that there was a way around it – at least for the near term: collaboration. The key is to strengthen working relationships, improve communication and to be “nimble,” to have the ability to quickly respond to change.
It is an important clarification to the problem that needs to be explored. To view what is before sales and marketing teams in terms of a bleak outlook is a bad look. To see opportunity in terms of strengthening working relationships and working together rather than to continue to support silo thinking and fiefdoms within major pharma organizations will set everyone back.
But we’ve always done it this way
Changing a mindset of “we’ve always done it this way,” is one of the most significant shifts any organization can make. It is true in daily life; it is clearly true in a Big Pharma organization.
When lives, improvement of life, products and processes can be affected by employees changing their mindsets and instead going for a quick response—rather than layering objections and rigid thinking one on top of the other—magic can occur.
Nimble thinking must be born of a determination to change the way things have always been done, and can yield amazing outcomes. At the heart of it all is communication, and the grit to attack a problem that seems intractable. Nothing is impossible if teams, departments, employees and executive leaders visualize positive outcomes that comes from communication and the willingness to change what has always been in place.
While I understand the complexity of some of the problems affecting Big Pharma, understanding that what must be done is vital. There is nothing that can’t be accomplished when pharma teams commit to one another, stand up, and fight together.
We must see the future not as a series of obstacles, but as opportunities for growth and challenges that can be resolved.
To reach Scott Burrows, Pharmaceutical Sales Speaker contact Scott Burrows today by phone at: 520 – 548 – 1169 or through this website.
