Best Practices in Planning and Performance Management: Radically Rethinking Management for a Volatile World, Third Edition

Chapter 3. Sizing the Opportunities

	Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers.
	--Calvin Coolidge

Since the first edition of this book was written in 2002, the amount of information available to companies seeking to improve their performance management processes has grown exponentially. The availability of rich metrics and best practice content has changed the way in which companies should approach the change effort. For many years, organizations have spent a lot of time seeking out benchmarks and searching for best practices. Today there simply isn't time to waste. Speed is of the essence, and a key for success is the ability to move from opportunity identification to performance improvement in a matter of weeks. It was interesting to note that many of the organizations that weathered the economic crisis of 2008-2009 the best were those that took decisive action—fast. JP Morgan Chase, IBM, McDonald's, Nintendo, and Teva Pharmaceutical all were exposed to the full force of the downturn, but through rapid adjustment of their cost structures and continued investment in their core strengths, they were able to distance themselves from their competitors.

The Value of Benchmarking

Exhaustive quantitative benchmarking exercises of performance management processes are of marginal value. Understanding how other organizations approach the change effort is far more valuable.

BEYOND BENCHMARKING

There are four reasons why it is time for organizations to move beyond benchmarking.

1. Many companies have expended ...