Is our Yardstick as good as we think?

Standards in business are a good guide to what success might be achieved.
I met a Company recently who were pleased that they felt they achieved better standards than their competition.
What Interested me was that standards were measured against others.
Its fine if todays standards are as high as twenty years ago.....but suppose the standards today have dropped considerably.
It means we are measuring from a lower standard than previously.
Its better to set our own standards high and measure by this or we might measure by a low common denominator!
Our aim is not to be average but rather, way above average.
Make sure a reliable Yardstick is in place to avoid false measurements.