Riding the 2026 Wave

While doom-scrolling through Facebook late one night, I saw a painting by a friend that captured something I hadn’t quite been able to put into words—so much so that I reached out and asked if we could use it for our January cover. It perfectly reflects a good way to look at the year ahead.

As the painting suggests, we’re done with treading water. Instead we are riding the economic tide to prosperity.

If resilience, reaction, and recovery defined the past few years, 2026 is shaping up to be a year of growth. For those managing critical global supply chains—and for the solution providers and logistics partners who keep them moving—this year will bring more than challenges. It opens the flood gates of opportunity.

That’s not to say the headwinds have disappeared. They haven’t. But supply chain professionals have always been world-class problem solvers. That skill, honed over decades of managing complexity, is the foundation for success this year. Disruptions—whether geopolitical, economic, or environmental—can no longer be viewed as paralyzing setbacks. They are variables to be managed, anticipated, and ultimately leveraged to succeed.

Two enduring strengths—discipline and adaptability—are proven. But how do supply chain leaders use those skills to pursue growth? The answer lies in better communication—persuading supply chain partners to pursue shared benefits across the entire network, rather than focusing on short-term tactical gains at one another’s expense.

For the past 40 years, Inbound Logistics has championed a demand-driven enterprise roadmap that puts those principles into practice. Today, that means moving beyond a pressure-driven mindset focused on squeezing transactional wins from vendors, carriers, and logistics partners—especially difficult when the pressure runs both ways.

Communication is needed for every player in the supply ecosystem to evolve from transactional exchanges to deeper, real-time collaboration. Easy to say. Hard to do. But by qualifying and onboarding like-minded supply partners, companies can reduce single points of failure and build more responsive and resilient supplier relationships.

For several years now, the supply chain narrative has been a somber one. We’ve been “Checking In” on port congestion, labor strikes, and the brittleness of global networks. We’ve spent so much time building digital lifeboats that we almost forgot what it feels like to spot a swell of opportunity, paddle hard and ride the wave.