My manager thinks that there is such a thing as 124%?

Question

As we somehow hit 124% of our target last week.

I however am sure that you cannot have more that 100%

Please help.

Can you get more than 100%, if so how?

Also If you can't, why?

Many thanks.

Answer 1

What Makes 100%? What does it mean to give MORE than 100%? Ever wonder about those people who say they are giving more than 100%? We have all been to those meetings where someone wants you to give over 100%. How about achieving 103%? What makes up 100% in life?

Here's a little mathematical formula that might help you answer these questions:

If:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z is represented as:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26.

Then:

K-N-O-W-L-E-D-G-E
11+14+15+23+12+5+4+7+5 = 96%

and

H-A-R-D W-O-R-K
8+1+18+4+23+15+18+11 = 98%

But,


A-T-T-I-T-U-D-E
1+20+20+9+20+21+4+5 = 100%

And,

B-U-L-L-S-H-I-T
2+21+12+12+19+8+9+20 = 103%

But, look how far you can go!

A-S-S K-I-S-S-I-N-G
1+19+19+11+9+19+19+9+14+7 = 118%

So, one can conclude with mathematical certainty that while Hard Work and Knowledge will get you close, and Attitude will get you there, it's the Bullshit and *** Kissing that will put you over the top.


I love this joke :-)

Answer 2

It totally depends on the context. Percent literally means out of 100. It is just a way of normalising things.

If you ask 100 people a question, it is not possible for you to get 124 answers and as such, "124% of people said …." would be a ridiculous statement.

If your target is $100 it is possible to make $124 so yes you can achieve 124% of your target.

To work out x as a percentage of y you do x/y*100. If there is a constraint that for whatever reason x must be smaller than y then the resulting percentage must be smaller than 100. If x can be bigger than y then there is no reason that the percentage must be smaller than 100.

A good example is percentage differences. If you sell 100 units in one month and 300 units in the next then you have increased sales by 200 units which is a 200% percentage increase.

A percentage is simply a normalised way of expressing a ratio. If there are no constraints which limit the ratio from being greater than 1, there is no reason a percentage cannot be greater than 100.

Answer 3

You mentioned sthg about hitting 124% of the target last week.

Lets say the target was 100 and you achieved 124 this implies that you haveachieved more than that you targetted.

So this is a specific case where the % works out to be more than 100%

ANd its quite possible in some other cases too.

Answer 4

What he means is that if your target was 100 and the final target reached was 124 then this is assumed to be 124%. but you are right in one respect you can only go up to 100%

Answer 5

100% is equal to a complete unit. (the number 1)
naturally there are numbers greater than 1, and percentages greater than 100%
If you are asked to sell 100 items as your target to make you viable as a sales agent, then selling 124 items is 124% of target and you keep your job.
Your manager should be pleased Robert.

Answer 6

The highest percentage is 100. That is the whole. If your target is to sell 100 cars and you sell 100, then you sold 100% of your target. If you sell 124 cars then you exceeded your target by 24%. People do say for example - 'Firm X has increased its sales by 200%'. What they mean is that the firm has doubled their sales. Its a bit like saying 'I could eat a horse.' - you know what they mean, they don't have to prove it.

Answer 7

you can achieve 124% of target - for example if your target is £10,000 sales a week and you have sold £12,400 then you have made 124% of target.

Some things are limited by 100%, if a bottle is 100% full you cannot then increase that to 124%, you cannot give more than 100% effort either.

Answer 8

You can certainly have more than 100%. If you have hit 124% of your target it means that your target is 100% and you have exceeded it by 24%.

Answer 9

124% doesn't make any sense if used in a phrase like "I need 124% of your attention" (you only have 100% of your attention to divide up at any given time). You can't give more than 100% of one particular object, but you can certainly use percentages over 100% to express an increase in quantity of something that's capable of growing.

If you had sold less than you targeted, you'd have reached somewhere under 100% of your target.

If you had sold -exactly- your target, you'd have sold 100%.

If you -exceeded- your target, you'd have gone over 100%.

Answer 10

Of course you can get 124%. Target for lets say $100 dollars, you earn $124, that's 124% ofd your goal.