Bill Hobler wrote
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>I'd like to put forth the notion that benchmarking has no role in learning
>organizations.
I'd question this position. I think that anyplace I may find a good idea
that could be put to use for our success is worth a shot. Besides a new
viewpoint widens our horizons, it gets us out of a rut of our own making.
Maybe into a someone other's rut that is better than mine.
Learning can come from anywhere and world class performance is worth
studying.
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Thanks Bill.
One of my more satisfying engagements for the last two years has been
facilitating a benchmarking 'club' of catering managers and their bosses
from several health service trusts in the North of England. Benchmarking
meant something to them and the result was more genuine learning from each
other than I have seen on most organisations.
We started by the way with a benchmarking 'health warning'. "If you are
not doing it as part of a process of learning designed to make an
organisation more effective don't bother". - If anyone wants the 'Plain
person's guide to benchmarking' [written by guess who] that kicked this
off they could mail ufmr@shu.ac.uk
The point is that for this group had we started with some of the wonderful
language that drifts around on this list [and the attitudes of 'how lucky
I am to know this'] we would have got no where and made no difference.
Actually it was a profound learning experience for me too as I must
confess to have been righteous about benchmarking when the whole thing
started.
If Price
The Harrow Partnership
Pewley Fort Guildford UK
101701.3454@compuserve.com
--Dr Ilfryn Price <101701.3454@compuserve.com>
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>