When sailing on the Chesapeake Bay, my wife and I often use a navigation process called triangulation. First we begin with our charts and plot out the course we desire to take. This often is the shortest route or line between our port of call and the next lighthouse we are hunting down. Once we draw that line on the chart we check its bearing, or the indicated heading we will need to read while sailing along.

Triangulation is the process by which we can determine our exact position while underway. As we maintain our bearing, we pick out two objects, one slightly behind us and one in front of us. These objects are stationary, such as water towers on land, channel markers, or large landscape features. By taking a bearing from our current position as we sail, with the two points on shore, we are able to draw lines on the chart that intersect our current heading and course. By triangulating we are able to find the intersection of the objects out to our current position and identify exactly where we are at on our plotted course.

Learning organizations must do exactly the same thing on a regular basis. Benchmarking world class organizations in front of us and others behind us afford the opportunity to know exactly where we are at in our plotted strategy. If we are off course, we have the opportunity to change our bearing to return to our desired course-our strategy.

When is the last time you triangulated your organization´s strategy with external benchmarks? Are you on course? If you are off by even a couple of degrees in bearing, over time, you will not end up near your desired destination.