Benchmarking Breakdown

Many organizations have fallen into an unhealthy trap in their view of benchmarking. Just as there are many great resources in business development... there are just as many ways to use them improperly. I've noticed organizations using benchmarking as a technique for their strategy and product development. Benchmarking was never intended to serve that purpose. This is a tool that helps organizations understand their market landscape and to learn other's best practices in certain pieces of their market. But the tool should stop here... this is not a means for determining strategic direction.

But why isn't it a tool for strategic direction? Simple. Strategic direction should strive to be unique, customized to clientele, principle-aligned, and specific to markets in a given time. Benchmarking starts with someone else's strategy and deducts from that point. Great vision is never a deduction. Great vision is always pioneering in method.

Where is benchmarking most useful? I would suggest that the most beneficial means for benchmarking is to explore principle, because principle never changes. But we must strive for what's unique and specific to our market - we'll never get that from someone else. In large part, this is our calling and our responsibility... to bear the image of our Creator in how we create and innovate for the future.

Fresh method and unique vision are both some of the greatest points of blessing given to us. May we never lower leadership to the deduction of benchmarking as a foundational practice. The people we serve deserve far better than that.

The Delegation Misconception

Very interesting to me how the idea of delegation is so poorly defined and used in today's world. I believe we mistake the idea of delegation and simply passing off work and assigning it to others. We go even further to reward people who can "delegate" well and consider them leaders.

This is all very systemic in our poor definition of leadership in today's world. Our role as leaders is never to delegate work, but to equip and prepare those people around us. Do leaders share work? Of course, but there's an intent at hand. Great leaders see all sharing of work and good delegation as an opportunity to equip, enable, empower someone.

The greatest investment we can ever make is in people; and we all know that we can't hold on to people forever. So why not make them the best we can while we have them - as a principle of good stewardship.

Delegation is an opportunity to lead and to lead others well - but it must be in terms of equipping them with the tools to be successful and the heart to see them succeed. True delegation is the sign of a great leader. Poor delegation is a sign of no leadership at all.

Take an inventory of your engagement of your team members and consider if you are simply passing off tasks or truly working to equip them well.

Thread of Experience

Several weeks back we discussed the idea on an Intentional Pathway. I believe IP is one of the most effective ways to understand where you are taking a group and determining what you trying to achieve.

Allow me to stretch that exercise with another term that may help better understand that tool. It's the idea of "thread of experience".

As you develop an IP for any product/program it's extremely important to keep in mind what the common theme is throughout that initiative. Remember, this is someone journeying through life who is going to interact/collide with something you have to offer - you need to be consistent in how you deliver.

Thread of Experience is simply the common core essence of what you're trying to communicate. It's the essential meaning. But, it must be defined and acknowledged.

Use these two tools (Intentional Pathway and Thread of Experience) to effectively build the experience you desire for your clientele to walk. Remember that you have the responsibility to steward their experience well. Why not use the right tools to help you better respect people?

Plan-Pilot-Invest

Capital is certain an item of great need for people these days and for the expressed intention for business development. All of us have heard pitches for various new concepts and opportunities and most of us will quickly gravitate toward the financial impact of any such idea or proposal. That's a good thing and I consider it usually a perspective of stewardship. But there are ideas worth investing in and worth making the capital initiative to see them work. But how do you get from step A to step X in the process without making the huge investment?

This is where a simple model of "Plan-Pilot-Invest" will come into play for us quite well. The concept is simple.

First, take the time to sit and map out your expectations and goals for your project then develop your strategy plan. Strategic planning takes on many forms, for which I have no intention to invest in here. But there is a process to your planning and a means of engaging others. Proper planning is critical.

Second, take the general framework of your plan and do a pilot on a shoe-string budget to test its validity, engagement, need, etc. Here's a hint... as you are building your strategy take into considering a phase roll-out of your plan. This way you can map out the basic needs up to the luxurious needs. This way you don't have to sacrifice the greater/bigger pieces, they are just in que for future delivery.

Third, once it's been piloted and you've seen the success points you were looking for, then make the pitch for the capital investment and now you'll have some foundation to "sell" your idea or product.

It's simple, but so is the principle. Prove it small then the investment for larger will come. Or better yet... he who is trustworthy with little will be trusted with much.

Challenge: build your strategy in steps and allow a season of piloting before making the big plunge.

The Third Victory

Many of you may be aware of Proctor and Gambles two points of success... (1) when the consumer purchases their product, and (2) when the consumer decides to purchase it again.

It's a brilliant and simple system for determining and defining success. And as I've stated many times before... it's almost more important to define success than it is to have success.

Consider the first success point... when the consumer purchases the product. We all know the experience of standing at Wal-Mart and trying to decide which item to purchase. Many of us are looking for value, function, longevity, etc. But once it's all said and done there is always one product that reigns victorious. That one product safely finds itself in your shopping card heading for a new home with you.

Now consider the second success point... when the consumer decides to purchase the product again. We all take that product home, analyze it's effectiveness and the value it provides for us, we will call that the items utility. That utility has a value to us personally and if that utility is high enough then we'll make a point to purchase that product again.

In any area of work we all have those two points of success, be it product sales, consulting, program development, etc. I believe the Proctor and Gamble model is ideal and great to challenge us all.

But I would like to challenge this model by adding a third success point.

I believe that the third victory is when a consumer becomes an advocate for a product and they beginning selling the product for you.

Picture this... you've successfully caught someone's attention, you've successfully make them a loyal consumer... not what if they become an advocate for your product.

The challenge here is that many of our resources might be better spent toward the third success point than the first. Yes, there's benefit to draw in new people; but what if we effort ourselves more to make advocates of our product (because our product is quality) and allow those loyal consumers feed the first success point.

All in all, it's quality and stewardship again. The quality of the product and the stewardship of treating people well and providing the best possible solution. In the end, that's what makes our consumer and clients most satisfied with our work.

Challenge: Think through what it would take to make someone an advocate and not just a consumer of your product.

Respond: How have you guided someone to become an advocate? How do we make advocates of our product?

More than One

Have you ever shared an idea with someone and when you ask for feedback you can tell they have some thoughts but you also can tell there's a great deal of reservation on their part?

That's very common... and here's why. When you only present one idea to someone then their natural inclination is to associate that idea with you and not to look at it objectively. You are the idea.

A simple solution when you're presenting ideas... present more than one. Now you come to a colleague to share a few ideas and their feedback is measuring an idea against another idea and not against you.

It's a simple practice to help you gather the much needed critical reviews from colleagues.

Who knows, sharing more ideas might fuel a group onto something far greater than you ever could have imagined.

Challenge: Work a little harder to present more than one idea, you'll love the results.

Think Steps, Not Products

Andy Stanley has a brilliant phrase, "Think Steps, Not Programs"

I'm going to build on that idea, but change it a bit according to the consulting world.

Here is the principle... we have to approach working with clients and groups as leading them through steps toward a goal and not trying to deliver just a product.

In many ways, anyone can deliver a product, walk away, and call that a success. But if we are to truly deliver value to our clients then we need to lead them closer to their defined goal.

Yes, these still come out as products, but the great "products" are much more than than... they are leading clients toward this greater goal.

Think of it like this. If I were to take you climbing a mountain our goal most likely would be to summit that mountain. You employ me to help you achieve that goal. Now I could help lay out a great plan or I could hike with you and lead you in the right direction to achieve success.

Just remember that it is always best for us to think steps and not product. If we succeed in leading our clients through the proper steps then we should also succeed in leading them to successful products.

Challenge: Think Steps, Not Programs

Engagement Pathway

Many organizations I work with will have bits and pieces of how they engage their clients and constituents. My general observation is that these organizations don’t have these pieces well thought out and certainly haven’t though how they strategically impact the constituent.

This is where we try and map out what that process for clients looks like; and we call that an engagement pathway… the pathway in which you engage your client.

Imagine if you were able to map out a pathway that’s strategic, engaging, measurable, and connected with various resources. That’s the goal every organization should have with it’s clients – to provide a sound experience from start to finish.

Engagement Pathways enable organizations to consistently reach clients with high quality and great resources. Remember the old Benjamin Franklin quote, “Failure to plan is planning to fail”.

Challenge: Consider how you can strategically engage your clients and map that experience for them.