Meeting Benchmarks is an Illusion of Success

Time and time again, I sit across a meeting table from people who coming from a school of thought prevalent at a time when predictability was possible, ask the question — what’s the industry benchmark for this? I cringe.

Benchmark. Rule of Thumb. Industry Standard. Best In Class. These are a good guide as to the minimum you should achieve. Why minimum? — Because other people have achieved this. You should be able to.

Once hit … it’s mediocre to maintain. These terms have since become excuses for mediocrity when you could be…