Now is not the time to default return to industry benchmarks
Now is not the time to default return to industry benchmarks
Leadership teams own the frame through which organisations look. The selected measures and targets are a part of that focus.
Now is not the time to default return to established industry benchmarks. In times of significant shifts such as we are currently experiencing not only the targets, but the measures themselves need to be questioned.
That questioning is the grand leadership opportunity of this disrupted phase – before we return to establishing work rhythms. Questioning the measures for relevance and strength creates the space for many better questions in the future.
‘Good questions INFORM,
Great questions TRANSFORM”
Ken Coleman (Legendary US sports caster)
Benchmarks have long been a useful tool for generating insights. The best we have done. The best in town. Working with multi-national companies since the 1990s we benchmarked ‘world-class’ for our industry. If you got to attend popular international conferences you were probably part of that movement. More recently with digitisation and the convergence in service expectations and capabilities across industries the stronger benchmark reference has become global all industries.
There are different strengths of benchmarks that create greater quality of questions and different levels of outcomes.
Looking at the Benchmark Strength Ladder, we can see that referring to local performance is generally the weaker benchmark. Going beyond your national and sector level to ‘all industry performance’ is stronger, yet you can still get caught in existing models that can be readily disrupted in changing times. Stronger than that is ideal for your stakeholders as defined by your mission, your cause or your why.
(Reference: Traction, the 4 practices of Change-fit leadership teams, Bernie Kelly 2020)
There is no argument that we can learn a lot from looking at what others do.
However, at best it is like secondary research to a scientist. It is not looking at what is front of us, not exactly the situation. It is not like primary research.
Like the benefits of secondary research – already compiled, gathered, organised, and published by others – utilising established industry benchmarks is quick and efficient. It is the ‘go to’ for initial scanning on a topic.
Like the limitations of secondary research it does not necessarily provide for deep understanding and is typically dated.
My experience being engaged in industry leading innovation is that many of the deep insights beyond the headlines may never be published, and if they are it is at least two years from DOING the work, and typically another year before being discussed at conferences or industry forums.
Now is the opportunity to ask better questions directly looking at the situation you face.
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What is ideal for my customers/ clients now?
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What is ideal for my staff now?
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What is ideal for our owners now?
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What is ideal for the community now?
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Is our scope of service expectation ideal?
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Are our measures ideal for building trust with all of our stakeholders?
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Are we maximising our potential for personal and organisational growth and development?
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Are our measures ideal for the 4 resilience capabilities of Monitoring, Responding, Learning, and Anticipating?
Like primary research is the foundation of building an inquiring mind, deep learning and progress, benchmarking your own ideal creates your own platform for measures and targets.
Measures and targets that are relevant and strong.
As a former colleague used to say whenever we discussed benchmarks - “you can hit the target, and still miss the point”.
“Successful people ask better questions,
And as a result they get better answers”
- Tony Robbins
What questions will you be asking before establishing new work rhythms?
This article is part of an ongoing series to expand our thinking and generate a shift in discussions as Business and community leaders. We hope you find the discussion starters useful, and really welcome your engagement. The quest to see more successful transitions this decade and less people caught suffering the impacts of disruption motivates shifting the national business and social narrative from short-term, reactive, and cynical to current, emerging and future horizons, intentional, and inspired. Please connect, share, challenge, and join the AME and other proactive communities as we lift our individual and collective performance.
Bernie Kelly
www.linkedin.com/in/berniekelly100/
Footnotes:
For further team discussion on these topics you may find the following stimulating