The fallacy of best practice

In the work that Growth Facilitators does, we often hear the term "best practice" typically used to indicate initiatives which the client desires to implement in order to achieve excellence. "Best practice" in marketing, "best practice" in human resource management, "best practice" in technology are spoken of with hallowed breath to indicate some tried and proven way to beat the competition.

It occurs to me that "best practice" is highly overrated.

Let’s first consider: what is "best practice"? Simply, it is a process or technique that has been applied repeatedly and that has consistently yielded superior results. We discern best practice by examining what those who are the best in the business are doing.

Why do I question this, for surely studying the best and doing what they are doing, must yield the best results? Here's why:

Best practices are things that were developed and applied in the past, perhaps in a different context, with different people and intentions. Just because something worked well in a previous time does not in any way mean that it will be the best possible solution now or in the future. 'History is no predictor of the future'. Indeed, an organization that is achieving superior performance is likely to have abandoned or moved on from the particular best practice that is now being touted by others. Further, an organization stuck in a best practice mode could actually be on the road to decline and mediocrity, sitting in the false smugness of doing what the best used to do.

What I believe companies need to do is to determine the best possible practice that is in alignment with their own vision. This may or may not be the best practice of others to date. For an organization to consistently achieve superior performance, it must constantly measure its performance, examine itself, learn and apply the new learning. It cannot be stuck in a mode of 'best practice'. Best today is not necessarily best practice. So, perhaps the only 'best practice' is to be constantly seeking and implementing your own "best practice", measuring the results and then learning from it and making it even better - or finding another one!

We used to sing this little ditty at school:

Good better best
Never let it rest
Till your good be better
And your better best

It still applies, except that in our turbulent world, there is no rest – just constantly making our good better, our better best, and our best even better.