ON AVERAGE, WE'RE AVERAGE
Garrison Keillor told his NPR audiences that the children in Lake Wobegon are all above average. While the statistical impossibility makes the statement funny, most of us believe our employees and our operations are above average. Is "average" bad?
There's nothing wrong with running a profitable manufacturing business that employees average people and provides average product and services. On average, that's what most companies do. But even that is not as easy as it sounds.
While some of us strive to be great, and I am always in support of that goal and the underlying actions required to reach it, many just don't have the energy.
If the best offer 99% on-time and in-full delivery, is my 95% all that bad? No it's not. Until everyone else is better. Then it's the kiss of death. Amazon is developing a core competency in delivery to overcome the now-annual December letdowns of its traditional delivery partners.
Average that is always average is one thing; average that sometimes slips to below average opens the doors to the wolves.
Unfortunately, average is a moving target, as is excellence. The bell curve keeps shifting to the right. Performance that yesterday put a company on the right end of the bell curve leaves them hanging on to the left tail for dear life today. Staying average requires continuous improvement. And it requires a tight bell curve, where the left side outliers are non-existent. That requires controlled processes.
Heck, if you're going to do all the work to stay average, you might as well consider becoming excellent. It's safer, and really no harder.
Lake Wobegon, where the women are strong and the men good looking, and the children... well, you know how that one goes.
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