Ranking Rankings

I seem to have been surrounded by discussions about rankings this week. There have been plenty of "end of financial year" stories on where businesses rank in their field. Forbes have released yet another list, this one ranking innovators. Cadel Evans wins the Tour de France and in Australia, it seems we are forced to ask whether this is the greatest Australian sporting achievement ever. A Carlton footballer takes a big grab, which may be judged the best Mark of the Year, knocking out the previous "certainties" for mark of the year.

Discussions like this can be good fun in a restaurant, at a pub or around the barbecue. But we can get carried away with them, especially in business.

If you aim for a ranking, you will run the grave risk of losing sight of your key aims - Are you delighting your customers and are you experiencing the success you want?

When Cadel Evans won the biggest cycling event in the world (another ranking), the things that really brought out his emotions were the thoughts of his family, his team and a former coach, now deceased, who have had such an impact on his success. He spoke about being a complete cyclist, of achieving his dreams and the dreams he shared with others.

There are times when setting a goal for a ranking can be important. After all, sports teams have to reach the finals occasionally to delight their fans and to achieve the success they want. These are the exceptions, not the rules.

Trying to achieve rankings can detract from customer delight, create unnecessary hierarchies that interfere with work, fracture high performance teams and create a focus on measurement rather than true achievement.

I don't know or care where Cadel's win ranks against other great Australian sporting experiences. What I know is that they all delight me, they are all wonderful achievements and separating degrees of greatness can only detract from that greatness.

Rank these in order for your business:

• Being number 1
• Delighting your clients and customers
• Obtaining the level of success that you want, regardless of how much others achieve

It will be rare that "Being number 1" ranks anywhere other than last.