There’s No Such Thing as an Industry Standard.

There’s No Such Thing as an Industry Standard. Or Is There? . . There is more to this than meets the eye.

Last year, I co-authored the Value Stream Flow Report—A Comparative Analysis and Industry Performance Benchmarking. This report gained worldwide traction as the first significant statistical analysis of flow metrics at scale, and I've had the privilege of discussing it in various forums.

The study was the first of its kind to shed light on critical aspects of Value Stream Performance, including lead time, predictability, variability, flow efficiency, and capacity utilisation. It offered detailed insights into what success looks like in continuous improvement efforts, marking a significant contribution to the industry.

Recently, I encountered a perspective from someone I respect and who is well-regarded in our industry. It challenges the use of performance benchmarks for continuous improvement, presenting some thought-provoking arguments:

🌐 1) Every organisation is unique; therefore, comparing your performance against external performance benchmarks is irrelevant.

• 2. If you want to feel successful, you shouldn’t measure yourself against some industry standard.

🚫 3) It’s a mistake for teams to pursue “someone else’s thresholds”. Doing so is disruptive and demotivating. It sets everyone up for failure, leading to guilt, frustration, and loss of confidence.

📈 4) The only benchmark that matters is your data. You're doing fantastic if your metrics are better than three months earlier.

🔍 5) You're in a good place as long as you understand why your metrics are moving up or down.

Diverse viewpoints help enhance our understanding of complex issues like performance measurement in digital Value Streams. I love how these points invite deeper reflection.

I'm sharing my take in the comments to enrich and extend this important industry discussion.

What about you? Any thoughts worth sharing? 💭

#kanban #flow #vsm #metrics