Do you find yourself replicating a process and each time you do it, 50-75% it doesn't work? Not that it fails entirely, but when attempted, it's either fraught with additional challenges, clients may be disrupted, or it becomes such a big mess, it throws your team into a tizzy?

But you still keep doing it because it's the only way you know how to do it — the only way you've been taught?

Do you like bananas? Watch this short video at the end.

Simple. Fast. Clean. I've been opening bananas the wrong way for 40+ years. Suddenly, a buddy of mine sent me this video, I watched it, and my world is forever changed. I was trying to open the banana the exact opposite way a banana should be opened. It blew my mind.

Now apply this example to your job or business. What areas, people, processes, or clients do you continuously run into where it gets messy or doesn't work?

Try the banana method — or what it's officially called, Benchmarking. Benchmarking is the process of comparing one's business processes and performance to best practices from OTHER industries. Improvements from learning mean doing things better, faster, and cheaper.

The key word here is OTHER. You might be opening bananas like me for the past 40+ years and your entire company might be opening them the same way.Why?

"That's just the way it's done." "That's the way we've always done it around here." "There's no better way to do it, because we would be doing it."

Sound familiar? How long have you been opening bananas the same way? It's easier, more comfortable, and less scary than doing something else.

How about looking at your competition? Look at other industries and see how they manage their similar issues. Look at other countries, cultures, or customers to see what they do and how they react.

Step out of your comfort zone and open a banana the right way.

How do you benchmark? Where can you begin to look for new ideas, concepts, and strategies?