Don’t use benchmarking…

Today, whilst on my daily dog walk, which also takes in my lunch (under a tree) and some downtime away from emails and to-do lists, I was listening to a pod. It was a pod all about Self Reflection, I found myself vocally (yes, out loud…in the woods) agreeing with everything the pod guest was saying. It was the BBC pod “Don’t tell me the score” and the pod’s regular theme is all about “What sport can teach us about life and how best to live it?” It uses sport to answer life’s big questions.

Anyway, as I was (very vocally) agreeing with it, I felt good. It resonated with me. I was feeling rather pleased with myself because everything the pod was saying I do/think/believe in and is how I live my life. Well done me (I thought).

But that got me thinking. We always feel good when we spend time with people who agree with our point of view. We enjoy reading articles (listening to pods) with which we agree. We even seek out those sources to give us that boost. It’s called Confirmation bias.

So why was I feeling so pleased with myself when I was enjoying the fact the someone else thought the same way as me? The irony was the pod guest was talking about how he learned most and (more to the point) developed most when he sought out a more demanding route and one that challenged him, his thinking and his beliefs.

He (I) already knew what he knew, so why spend time confirming what we already know (or think we know)? Surely we should be spending a decent proportion of our time challenging ourselves, our beliefs and our values? If for no other reason than to grow, expand our horizons and improve. A great quote from the pod was “nothing grows in your comfort zone”.

At Venue Performance, we’ve created and developed a unique and groundbreaking benchmarking tool that tells facts. When using it, you’d better be prepared to go outside your comfort zone because it might not always tell you what you want to hear. It’s not opinion-based, and it doesn’t give a hoot who runs the reports or who clicks the buttons. It’s a data bank so it simply squirts out the FACTUAL results, offered up by the entire industry and your competitors. Sometimes the results don’t agree with our thoughts or opinions. The results might transport you outside your comfort zone.

If you’re the sort of person who wants to improve, be challenged, expand your horizons and develop yourself and your business, then these results… these facts will help you and play a central role in you and your business’s development, especially now in these most challenging of times.

Or, you can do what you always do and only look for the results you want to see. Apply Confirmation bias and don’t look in awkward places. Don’t go outside your comfort zone.

So, for those of you who are looking for Confirmation bias? Don’t use our benchmarking.

If you’d like to know if you are a cruising into the confirmation bias zone this is a good article.

Credit to Thrive Global for the use of their image.