Some of us remember the Quality movement of the early 90s. Most companies paid lip-service to it, stating they were “for” Quality. Eventually, talking about Quality became meaningless, since being “for” something isn’t the same as doing something about it. The phrase “Best Practices” has come to the same grim end. Too many companies now specifically point out that they are “for” using “Best Practices,” but have a much harder time telling you exactly what those best practices are.

What Best Practices Were and Why We Ever Cared

Best Practices were intended to be a collection of the most excellent methods of doing our projects. This seemed important considering how many projects fail. Thus, many companies viewed best practices as the new “holy grail” with which to save their projects.

Where We Went Wrong

The danger of applying a catch-phrase to anything is that it becomes easy to say out loud. Everyone can easily memorize and say it with little regard about its meaning and whether they can produce anything to back it up. As a result, none of us has to remember what the phrase actually meant. It becomes part of the “buzz”—a shallow reminder of the great things for which we once strived.

Secondly, we require people to say the catch-phrase and include it in their promotions and proposals. If they don’t use the phrase, they are castigated. Thus, everyone now knows they are expected to say these words and say them often, and they do.

Thirdly, we become giddy when we hear people repeat this phrase, thinking that they will now show us that they know something about this important secret—because we’re not sure what it means anymore.

Last, but not least, in the final analysis, we really don’t require anyone to provide any evidence that they do actually know what best practices are. The fact that we all know the catch-phrase or, as I’ll call it, “The Secret Handshake,” is enough for us, and we don’t press for details.

Best Practices Aren’t Practical

Even for those of us who are truly making the effort to find the “practices” that are “best,” it’s a tricky business.  What’s “best” for one company may be far from best for another.  After all, we all have different processes, different sizes of companies, different organizational behaviors, and so on.  This is not to say that certain methodologies can’t be applied to a multitude of organizations, but that methodology must be carefully selected.  I remain skeptical that a single methodology could be the one-and-only choice of and for everyone.  One size rarely fits all.

Additionally, the people who tell us what is “best” don’t necessarily make it easy for us to believe that they really have it all worked out, either. Many of those who proclaim they know how we should all live and breathe are much less forthcoming about providing details as to why we should believe they might actually know what they’re talking about.

Best Practices – RIP

Let’s let the phrase Best Practices die and put a “Rest in Peace” on its gravestone. Next time, let’s not give our grand plan a name. Maybe then, it will survive a little longer.