Ron's Reflections

My reflection for the day:  Blindly following best practices without applying critical thinking can result in practices being proposed, developed, and deployed that do not address the true “problem to solve” in the current environment.  

When we rely on best practice are we simply looking for the easy button?  Are we avoiding the hard work of critical thinking, root cause analysis, and creative problem solving?

I am a skeptic by nature (not to be confused with being a pessimist or simply wanting to play the devil’s advocate).  As a skeptic I adhere to the old adage “trust but verify”. I have a natural curiosity to understand the facts behind assertions and assumptions. Once I can review, and verify facts and understand the conditions under which the facts are true I can then begin asking questions to determine whether the statement applies to the current situation.  

When I hear the words “best practice” I immediately start asking myself the skeptical questions – Best practice for who, in what time period (best practices in 2019 are certainly not best practices in 2024), in what industry, in what geography,  in what size organization, and in what organizational culture?  Are the goals/objectives/desired end state aligned with what the best practice will deliver?  Will there be unintended consequences of implementing the best practice?  What are the trade-offs; are we giving anything up to adopt the practice?   Additionally, I have to ask myself at what maturity level is the best practice applicable to?  Not all organizations or teams are at the same maturity level in terms of capability – a best practice designed around a highly mature process may not be a best practice for an organization low on a maturity curve.  Best practices (like great coaching) are situational.  Lastly, I have to ask myself – “best practice according to who?”.  

Applying a “best practice” that was developed within the context of a certain industry, demographic, geography, organization, or culture may actually be a “bad” practice for another.  Context matters – both the context in which the best practice was defined AND the context in which we are attempting to apply the best practice.  Before applying a best practice we need to put on our skeptic hat, ask the hard questions, and exercise the critical thinking muscles to determine if it is best FIT for the current situation.

Best practices can be a barrier to change and innovation, a way to maintain the status quo, or embed “tried and true” practices.  A best practice feels comfortable, safe, and less risky.  As stated in this article The Problem With Best Practices, “The breakthroughs happen not when you follow conventions but when you break them”. Best practices perpetuate these commonly held practices and conventions essentially preventing new and novel approaches to take form – limiting the ability to differentiate.

Best practices, almost by definition, develop over time – they don’t simply appear out of the blue – as such they are based on the past.  When we rely on best practice we are essentially locking in practices of the past; practices based on a historical context, not a current context.

Best practices can be useful; however we should approach the application of best practices the same way we use ChatGPT or other LLMs – as a starting point for the hard work of creative problem solving.  To be truly valuable we need to apply a heavy dose of skepticism and critical thinking to challenge the underlying assumptions and context in which the practice was developed.

I used ChatGPT while refining my thoughts (scary how close ChatGPT and I were on some topics).  I used the ChatGPT Prompt “Provide a detailed analysis how following best practices can actually lead to negative outcomes for an organization.” 

The ChatGPT returned 8 items and the one item that I simply had not thought through was the last one – lack of ownership.  According to ChatGPT – “When an organization heavily relies on best practices, employees may feel less ownership and responsibility for their work. They may simply follow prescribed procedures without understanding the underlying reasons or taking ownership of the outcomes. This can lead to a decrease in employee morale and motivation”.  I think there is a lot of wisdom in that sentiment.  Engagement occurs when individuals feel they are involved with defining and then solving the problem.  When we justify a change or try to sell something simply because it is “best practice” without involving critical stakeholders in the process of defining, and solving, we may be setting ourselves up for less-than-optimal results.

Final thought… As I was reading the Fast Company article linked above I ran across the reference to Elon Musk’s “First Principle Thinking”.  Definitely something I need to explore a bit more in the future… here is a link that provides a summary … First Principles

Hope you enjoyed the read!