Comparison is part of human nature. Think about the last time you ate a burger. Was it tasty? How tasty? You can only decide how good the burger was by comparing it to others you've eaten.

Comparison helps us understand relationships and make quality judgments. We compare different products (like burgers), elements in our environment (like night versus day), and even compare ourselves to peers to determine our own merits (though maybe we should do less of this one).

Let's face it, we're benchmarking everything all the time! While you may not call it benchmarking when you eat a burger and think it wasn't quite as delicious as the last one, it's exactly what you were doing. Who knew you were already such a benchmarking expert?

Now that we've got the basic benchmarking definition out of the way, it's time to focus on benchmarking in business, its benefits, the different types, and how it's done. So sit down and buckle up, because here we go!