The Dark Side of "Best Practices"

In the world of technology and business, "best practice" is common vocabulary. Discussed from boardrooms to break rooms, it is used as a justification, an excuse or even a strategy. It is "best practice" to:

• have certain roles on the team;
• buy a specific piece of hardware;
• handle complaints in a particular fashion;
• configure software a certain way;
• use a particular tool;
• follow a certain process;
• and on and on it goes...

Best practices are the safe bet, the correct choice, the right move: "No one ever got fired for ______!" Or, perhaps, its a fallacy for mediocrity, a comfortable lie that breeds status quo.

Are best practices a comfortable lie that breeds status quo?

It is true that reinventing every solution, every hardware, every software, every process would be ridiculous. Businesses must use existing solutions on the marketplace to move forward quickly and to streamline operations. These are necessary and beneficial force multipliers.

To define the future based on historical practices is to smother progress.

The dark side is when the "best practice" mantra removes the critical thinking, the consideration of applicability and the innovation drive within an organization. One said it this way: "Best practice is, by its very definition, past practice." To define the future based on historical practices is to smother progress.

Repeatedly, technology professionals move from one organization to the next, bringing with them "how it worked at the last job". While experience is vital and only earned through direct application, true experts in a field use experience as learnings to apply rather than solutions to prescribe to the next problem.

Use experience as learnings to apply rather than solutions to prescribe to the next problem.

Whether network design, data storage, software development or help desk support, IT teams are required to consider where the siren of Yesterday's Way is affecting today's operations. Mature organizations challenge the status quo, constantly asking "How can we do it differently, better, faster?"

If you're a leader on an IT team, maybe it's time to ask: "If we started over today, what would we do differently?" Answered honestly, that list is what will be holding you back in two years - if not already!