Comments on: How Everyone Can Be Best…NOT

By: Roland Turner

Roland Turner — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 14:22:07 +0000

It all rather depends what “class” means. Most executives would likely interpret this as “market”, in which case 50% (allowing for delusions of grandeur) is not a bad guess.

Granted, not everyone has Welch’s courage (exit all businesses in which we’re not #1 or #2).

By: Stephen Shapiro

Stephen Shapiro — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 14:29:51 +0000

Thanks for your comment. Great point about average being “mean,” not “median.” You are so correct.

When talking about best in class, people are typically referring to a form of “median.” That is, when someone is in the top half, they are better than the median, not better than average.

Regardless, my point about best in class companies is still accurate. Assuming best in class means (at least) in the top half, no matter how much companies improve, we can still only have half of the companies in the top half.

But you are correct. Being better than the “average driver” does not necessarily mean you are in the “top half of all drivers.”

Thanks for pointing out my faux pas!

By: Anne Okkels

Anne Okkels — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 13:56:54 +0000

Quite a fan of your blog, I completely follow your argument. It’s impossible for everyone to be top-of-class and if every executive believed his firm was top of class that would just go to prove that he did not have an accurate sense of the firms position.

Apart from that – if all firms focus too much on innovation, they might end up throwing out the baby with the bathwater.

Concerning the definition of “average”, however, you’re a bit off the mark: 50% on either side, that’s the definition of the median, not of the average. So actually, there would be room for improvement, provided that the rest of the firms were so incredibly non-innovative, that they lowered the average level sufficiently.