When You Know Better
Anne Evans defines benchmarking in her book “Benchmarking – Taking Your Organisation Toward Best Practice” as ‘deciding what is important; understanding how you now do it and how well you do it; and applying what you have learnt in a way that leads to your doing it better than before. Then do it all again.’
Of course the principles that undergird her definition are business -related and for the most part are those employed by Senior Management in an organisation to improve “processes such as service delivery, time taken to manufacture or produce, warehousing and distribution”. The bottom line is that benchmarking is about delivering benefits.
On a more personal note, I’m reminded that in or out of the context that Evans’ uses, the common denominator is the presence of people. And I wonder alot whether during the process of benchmarking that those people considered the application of those benchmark principles in their own lives or to their own well-being.
When you look around you, in your workplace, at it’s systems and procedures do you ever build the bridge from professional to personal life where those things are concerned. Can you see the connection? Now I’m not saying you need to become so systematic that you have no personality altogether, rather, I’m saying, today, have a look at those things that you employ during your work day that will deliver you greater personal benefits.
For example, how well do you understand how you’re doing in your personal relationships? And how do you know? Did you ask someone recently? Is that how you got your understanding? More to the point, how well do they say you’re doing?
How have you applied what they’ve said to you to make the relationship better than it was before? The thing about having a go is that not only does the process change how we are, it changes who become too … and usually for the better. There’s an adage that Talk Show Host Oprah Winfrey says all the time, “when you know better, you do better!” And so we all can. Let the excavations begin.
