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What about Norm?

(Approaching Normal)

by Ron Messer

Ron is a pretty average guy who works as an accountant for an average company is an average size city in Canada (which is about as average as you can get).

In the foyer to Chicago’s Field Museum of Natural History there is a statue of a nude man called ‘Norm’, along with a plaque inscribed with his ‘story’. Day in and day out Norm greets visitors to the museum with his benign presence. The interesting thing about him is that he is the quintessential average guy -- average height, weight, age, income and so on (…yes, that too!). Norm is a statistical composite of the North American population and is interesting to you and me because he serves as a point of reference. Is your family size larger or smaller than Norm’s 2.3 children? Are your shoes bigger than his size nines? Let’s face it, we all like to compare. o, consider how you measure up.

You may have noticed an interesting phenomenon that has been taking place on the Internet: polling buttons. These are the questions to which readers of on-line publications respond to see where they stand relative to the ‘norm’. For example, Canada’s national newspaper, The Globe and Mail, recently asked whether their readers thought that the U.S. had made progress in Iraq since the end of the war. Of 15,980 readers who answered this question, 78% indicated that they did not think that the U.S. had made much progress. You can find similar types of questions and responses in just about every on-line newspaper or magazine.

Personally, I thoroughly enjoy responding to these polls, just to see how many people share my views. This usually turns out to be most folks, which supports my long-held belief that I’m a fairly average guy. But, occasionally, I discover that my opinions are in the minority, leading me to wonder if I am more righteous than others, or if I may be in need of some serious counseling. To the question, Have I Googled myself on the Internet I responded with a ‘no’. When asked whether I think steroid use is prevalent in professional sports I said ‘yes’.

So, why is this worth mentioning? Well…having a point of reference is important when making decisions. Given the public sentiment expressed in the Globe and Mail poll, the Canadian government may now feel vindicated in its decision not to support the U.S. in its invasion of Iraq. n many business undertakings, knowing where you stand in relation to the norm can provide important cues about what you should be doing with your products or services. Approaching normal can guide business decisions by framing personal perspectives in terms of those of your customers -- consider, for example, the traveling public, in the case of airlines. Do they feel safe flying on commercial air carriers? Do they think that airplanes are more, or less, secure in a post 9/11 world? On-line polls can provide decision makers with invaluable insights in this regard. If Joe and Jane Traveler are not feeling secure about boarding an aircraft, then the airlines had better do something about it, and fast. The norm should dictate action and understanding what the norm is thinking is valuable business intelligence.

Providing a framework for what is normal means matching your perceptions with those of others. These people can be your customers, your employees, your suppliers or your competitors. As you approach normal you come to a better understanding of their attitudes and beliefs in relation to your own. But more importantly, once you know these, you can begin to predict their behavior, which is a tremendous strategic advantage for any business. Ultimately, understanding others means understanding yourself. So the next time you’re wondering what others are thinking, just think about Norm standing resolutely in the museum and then look into the mirror and ask yourself . . . am I approaching normal?