Are "Best Practices" Really Best?

I have lived through many a "Lessons Learned" and "Best Practice" reviews. The debate between "good" and "best" is eternal in any field, but I'm happy to leave a couple observations.

Best practices are generally a collection of findings in a local setting or among a community of practice. But as you note, good practice is not fixed standard but a reflection on a point in time among a maelstrom of variables. The value of critiquing projects and processes results in finding which we, for the moment, call "good" or "best practices", is that it gives us a point to navigate from as we evaluate our own particular settings, resources and opportunities.

I work in aboriginal communities in which outside practices are imported in a range of implementation from locally-led partnership to legal, involuntary imposition. Best practices are often "best" in the eyes of the beholder which is the derivative of centuries of colonization. Local participation and leadership will allow for a local "good practice" to emerge. Even the notion of "development" is suspect in the circles I work in.

If I were going to write a best seller in organizational development, I would title it "Best Practices and A Grain of Salt".

Thanks for your excellent comments!

Ray

Joan and Dan - Thanks so much for your responses. I actually think that the term can be helpful. Here's an excerpt from a comment that I made back in September at the Community Driven Institute's website:

"I’ve actually seen the quest for “best practices” turn whole organizations around, and powerfully move them forward. I’ve been part of a struggling youth mentoring organization that sought best practices for program development, and then rebuilt its program, incorporating and tweeking what it learned from others to create a new and better way to effectively serve. I’ve watched a civil rights organization’s board shift its perspective 25 years forward by seeking best practices from like-minded organizations. And, I’ve seen a breast center continue to struggle because it wouldn’t look outside itself to figure out better ways to serve.

Any phrase can be used as a weapon to chill conversation and stifle creativity, and those same words used wisely can also inspire learning, collaboration, research, and innovation. The term ‘best practices” is not the problem. It’s those who wield any phrase without thought that have the power to cause the damage."

Call it a “best practice,” an “effective practice,” a “generally accepted accounting principle,” or a “tip.” It doesn’t matter. These are all used to indicate advice, standards and counsel, and ways of operating that others have found helpful. And the obligation of the receiver is to take it and make it relevant and useful.

You can read the full (and quite animated) dialogue, here.

(Cross-posted on LinkedIn in response).

"There's a reason the marketing theme of my training business is "Best Practices . . . Your Way." My philosophy, and practice, is to start with the best identified ideas on a particular issue, then overlay the realities of the client organization on those tried and true practices to design a version that works BEST for that organization. At the end of the day, I hope each of us wants what is the "best" for our particular circumstances. Beyond that, the discussion of "best" and "good" is little more than an exercise in semantics. All that said, this is a good example of a topic that will invite further discussion, and I look forward to reading it."

From LinkedIn by Dan Shephard

"Citing "best practices" is a powerful way to illustrate to nonprofits the difference between what's illegal vs. a best practice. There are many actions a nonprofit and its board may take that might be legal (such as paying board members) but are not a "best practice." That can help make the point."

From LinkedIn by Joan Mintz Ulmer