I have a friend who feels he has been had. He bought a notebook which advertised 6 hours of battery life, and he was getting only half of that on average.

We normally have to make decisions primarily on what technology or products to purchase and use. And we are increasingly reliant on benchmarks to make such calls. These kind of statistics are produced under ‘certain’ conditions, and it is important , especially if it is critical , to make sure that you understand what the numbers mean.

IF the conditions are not the same, the results may vary widely. I recently came across a statistic published by EPA which are standard fuel efficiency ratings based on lab tests, and the real consumer reports that came in.

There are two figures here: the first is the miles per gallon as published, the second are miles per gallon of the car as per real tests for city driving as published in BusinessWeek Nov. 14, 2005 reports.

Lexus RX 400H– 31 , 16 mpg
Toyota Highlander — 33 , 16 mpg
Ford Escape — 36, 22 mpg
Honda Civic — 49 , 36 mpg
Honda Accord — 29 , 18 mpg

Depending on conditions, you will note that real world tests can just only be half of lab tests under specific conditions. Not only in cars, but in many real world specs like freezing and cooling efficiencies, computer speed, electric consumption, employee effectiveness, and others, there is always a good reason why you should always review the numbers.

As they say, there are lies, and there are statistics. It is well that we validate before we believe. If management decisions are dependent on facts, the quality of the facts can determine the quality of your decisions.