dinoiii
January 20th, 2006, 06:28 PM
Dinoiii’s Rant VI: The Bell Curve
Some people are always in the middle of the bell curve. Take any population anywhere on the planet and measure just about anything, and the distribution of the population almost always comes out as a perfect bell curve. Weird? No. Just very normal.
Take height, for example. There are a few Willie Shoemakers and a few Kareem Abdul-Jabbars, but just about everyone is grouped in the middle.
It’s one thing to be physically average, but the bell curve also applies to effort, attitude, and skill. It even applies to the energy and creativity of entire organizations. There are a few at each end of the curve, but most organizations end up in the middle.
Did these people and organizations choose to be average, or did it just end up that way? We know that in just about any marketplace, the laggards get wiped out. Organizations that lag behind the competition’s new products see their sales decline. Individuals who don’t exert enough energy are more likely to get laid off.
The most fascinating thing about the bell curve is that some people and some organizations naturally gravitate to a certain section. Some people, for example, will always walk a few steps behind the group, regardless of how fast the group is walking. Some companies will always fill their orders a little faster than everyone else, regardless of the industry average.
The trick, then, is to not wait for the industry to change before changing where you are on the curve. The trick is to change your organization’s instinctual location on the curve. If you get used to being exceptional, you’ll probably stay there.
Think with me for a moment about all companies within the supplement industry. Are there any to you that stand out, while others seem to always lag behind? This industry mimics a bell curve distribution as well as the next. I am curious if you can aid me in constructing a list of the companies that skew the industry to the right (fall ABOVE the mean or average) than others and which do you feel skew the industry to the left (fall BELOW the mean or average). Perhaps, this could aid consumers in making their future purchases. I now turn this rant over to you...
Some people are always in the middle of the bell curve. Take any population anywhere on the planet and measure just about anything, and the distribution of the population almost always comes out as a perfect bell curve. Weird? No. Just very normal.
Take height, for example. There are a few Willie Shoemakers and a few Kareem Abdul-Jabbars, but just about everyone is grouped in the middle.
It’s one thing to be physically average, but the bell curve also applies to effort, attitude, and skill. It even applies to the energy and creativity of entire organizations. There are a few at each end of the curve, but most organizations end up in the middle.
Did these people and organizations choose to be average, or did it just end up that way? We know that in just about any marketplace, the laggards get wiped out. Organizations that lag behind the competition’s new products see their sales decline. Individuals who don’t exert enough energy are more likely to get laid off.
The most fascinating thing about the bell curve is that some people and some organizations naturally gravitate to a certain section. Some people, for example, will always walk a few steps behind the group, regardless of how fast the group is walking. Some companies will always fill their orders a little faster than everyone else, regardless of the industry average.
The trick, then, is to not wait for the industry to change before changing where you are on the curve. The trick is to change your organization’s instinctual location on the curve. If you get used to being exceptional, you’ll probably stay there.
Think with me for a moment about all companies within the supplement industry. Are there any to you that stand out, while others seem to always lag behind? This industry mimics a bell curve distribution as well as the next. I am curious if you can aid me in constructing a list of the companies that skew the industry to the right (fall ABOVE the mean or average) than others and which do you feel skew the industry to the left (fall BELOW the mean or average). Perhaps, this could aid consumers in making their future purchases. I now turn this rant over to you...