Some context, please
A pet peeve of mine: A report about associations (e.g., marketing benchmarks report) where the report defines associations by the number of members, but fails to discriminate between trade associations and individual associations. In other words, the report will talk about "associations with fewer than 500 members" as if a trade association with 450 members is somehow the same as an individual membership organization with 450 members.
I have worked with trade associations with fewer than three dozen members that had a budget and staff three times the size of a professional society with 2,500 members. I think you see my point; the number of members without context makes for pretty useless comparisons or benchmarks.
Just something to keep in mind if you're ever creating or reading benchmarking reports.
Wes's Wednesday Wisdom Archives
Are You Answering Your Calls?
I’ve written about this before, but apparently I have to keep repeating it. If you’ve […]
Who do you trust?
Who Do You Trust I was reading an article recently about Warren Buffet’s “rules” for […]
Set benchmarks to measure progress
It’s impossible to measure progress if you don’t know your starting point. This sounds axiomatic, […]
You’ll make incorrect decisions. Acknowledge them and fix it.
A client of mine recently wrote the following to me: “It’s so hard to set […]
"Experience is unobservable to everyone except the person who it happens to."
In Dan Gilbert’s book Stumbling on Happiness, he writes: “Experience is unobservable to everyone except […]
Know Your Audience Before You Speak
This one may seem obvious, but when you’re speaking to anyone, whether it’s one person, […]
"Behavior is a function of the person in their environment."
Lewin’s equation says “behavior is a function of the person in their environment.” (He was […]
Signal-to-noise ratio
Signal-to-noise ratio Signal-to-noise ratio, formally used, applies to electricity and engineering, and refers to how […]
Consultants bring perspective
Consultants bring perspective At a recent speaking engagement, I was asked what I think is […]
Garbage in, gospel out
Garbage in, gospel out We’ve all heard the phrase “Garbage in, garbage out.” If the […]