Jeremy Clarkson represents all those boy racers who never grew up. He likes fast cars that are fun to drive. He is not bothered about value for money, or miles per gallon. The driving experience is what counts. So long as he can comfortably get his six foot plus frame into the driving position he not interested in how much leg room there is for rear passengers or the cubic volume of the boot.

He is interested in performance, specifically acceleration, cornering and top speed. The dash board should be uncluttered no distracting illuminations just the essential info. The interior unfussy but with a quality finish. The engine should make a deep satisfactory throaty noise when the accelerator pedal is pressed and the door should close with a solid thud. In the past he would have been dismissive of extras but these days everyone expects a quality sound system and a sat nav.

So would Jeremy say your organisation made him fall in love with driving all over again? Would he be excited by the speed of change? Would he praise the responsiveness?Would he say, “when it comes to out and out performance this organisation stands out from the crowd “ ? Would he point out how management information retained a focus on what was important? Would he appreciate the unfussy way the organisation went about its business? Would he say people enjoyed working here?

Of course it would be a balance report so at risk of stating the obvious he would say that it’s best suited to motorway driving. That the boot is on the small side, so not big enough to accommodate a set of golf clubs. That the lack of rear passenger space, the poor fuel economy and the unforgiving sport suspension make it unsuitable for the school run or the big weekly shop. He would probably acknowledge that it was not an environmentally friendly means of getting from A to B.

So as Jeremy would say. Here’s the thing, half the driving population are women who tend to view a car as a means of transport which needs to be reliable and safe. So whilst this car may appeal to the boy racer in most  men this is not the car they will be driving.

The chief executive and the board may see themselves driving a high performance vehicle but the head of finance and the HR team know that it is at heart a family car , economical, safe and reliable with perhaps a go faster stripe.