The article discusses how public organizations can improve their performance by learning from the best practices of other agencies. It outlines steps for preparing, conducting, and sustaining benchmarking efforts to identify and implement these practices. Key points include understanding best practices, selecting what to benchmark, building benchmarking teams, finding a partner, analyzing research, adapting best practices, and maintaining performance improvements. The goal is to help public agencies achieve breakthroughs in their operations by learning from successful peers.