How Best Practices can Mislead You

Your "best practices" might be killing your improvement efforts. Here's why: During WWII, military analysts studied planes returning from combat to see where to add armor. Most bullet holes were on the wings and fuselage. So they wanted to reinforce those areas. Then statistician Abraham Wald said: "You're looking at the wrong data." The planes you're studying SURVIVED. The ones shot in the engine and cockpit? They never made it back. This is survivorship bias. And it's destroying your continuous improvement efforts. Here's how: - You study your "successful" processes - You benchmark against top performers only - You ignore the failed experiments - You copy what worked elsewhere But you're missing the critical data: → Why did some improvement initiatives fail? → What problems aren't being reported? → Which "best practices" actually caused failures? → What are the unsuccessful companies doing wrong? The manufacturing reality: For every process improvement that worked, 3 didn't make it to implementation. But we only study the survivors. Better approach: - Document failed experiments and why they failed - Study processes that broke down under pressure - Interview people who left your company - Analyze near-misses, not just successes - Look at what your struggling competitors are doing The real insights aren't in your success stories. They're in your failures. What failed improvement initiative taught you the most? Share it below - let's learn from the data we usually ignore.

🤔 What if the most dangerous phrase in business isn't "we've always done it this way" but rather "best practices"? Here's a thought that might ruffle some feathers: Our obsession with "best practices" could be killing innovation. When everyone follows the same playbook, we create an echo chamber of mediocrity. Tesla didn't disrupt the auto industry by following best practices. Netflix didn't revolutionize entertainment by copying Blockbuster's manual. The most successful leaders I've worked with don't ask "What's everyone else doing?" They ask "What if we did the exact opposite?" Case in point: While retail was doubling down on e-commerce, Trader Joe's stubbornly stuck to brick-and-mortar—and thrived. Their "worst practice" became their competitive advantage. Innovation often lives in the spaces between best practices. It's found in the questions we're afraid to ask and the conventions we dare to challenge. What "best practice" in your industry needs to be challenged? 💭 #Leadership #Innovation #BusinessStrategy #DisruptiveThinking

"Best Practices" are ruining Workday implementations. Someone had to say it → It’s the most overused phrase in HR tech → It sounds smart, but shortcuts discovery → It replaces business context with a templated guess And yes, this take is controversial. But here’s the honest truth: → Most consultants using “Best Practices” don’t understand your business → They default to what worked elsewhere - not what works for you → And when they hit a wall, they hide behind buzzwords instead of real answers ↳ Your org is not a textbook. It’s messy. Quirky. Uniquely yours. The approval chains. The exception paths. The weird onboarding sequences. That’s not “wrong.” That’s reality. What works in a demo tenant won’t survive real-world chaos. Which is why “Best Practices” often fall apart once real users hit real use cases. The real work? - Understanding YOUR structure - Mapping YOUR processes - Owning YOUR complexity Best Practices should be a reference point - not a blindfold. Next time you hear that phrase tossed around, pause and ask: “Is this really what’s best for us, or just easiest for them?” That one question could save your implementation. P.S. If you’re tired of cookie-cutter answers and want Workday configured for how your company actually runs. Save 💾 ➞ React 👍 ➞ Share ♻️ Follow Alok Kumar for more content on Workday.

There Are No 'Best Practices' in Agile (There Can't Be) The phrase "best practice" is reassuring. If someone has discovered the perfect way to do something, then all we need to do is follow it. But in Agile, this idea is flawed. Agile is about continuous learning, adapting, and improving. The notion of a single "best" way assumes a fixed solution and is antithetical to Agile principles. Thoralf J. Klatt reminded me of Dave Snowden's Cynefin model, a brilliant framework for understanding complexity and decision-making. Cynefin categorizes problems into a quintant: clear, complicated, complex, chaotic, and confused - suggesting which approaches work in each. https://thecynefin.co I admire the genius of Cynefin, but seeing "best practices" in the clear domain made me reflect on how the word "best" can hurt Agile teams. Best practices suggest permanence, but what worked in 2015 may fail in 2025. Colocation was once considered essential for Agile delivery. Today, remote work powered by virtual platforms has made that assumption obsolete. Practices must evolve with tools and challenges. Clinging to outdated ways introduces risk. AI is another tool that demands rethinking "best" practices. LLMs can generate user stories, gherkins, and sprint plans in seconds. Jeff Sutherland, co-creator of Scrum (and a genius in his own right), embraces AI, but AI isn’t in the Scrum Guide (yet). This shows that even foundational frameworks must adapt, and the idea of "best" practices limits that evolution. The problem goes beyond tech. Agile operates in complex systems where every team works in its own context with unique challenges. What works for one team may fail for another. Declaring any practice "best" ignores these nuances. Agile is about finding what works for you, not following a recipe. Cynefin shows why best practices only fit certain scenarios. In the clear domain, where cause and effect are predictable, recipes may work. But Agile operates in the complex domain, where solutions emerge through experimentation and adaptation - and where the idea of a single "best" solution isn’t just unhelpful; it’s harmful. Cynefin highlights why iterative learning and context-specific approaches are so valuable in Agile. Still, the desire for best practices is strong. Agile is messy, and people crave certainty. Leaders may adopt "best" methods to reduce risk. Organizations may promote them because they’re easier to sell than justifying experimentation or the cost of change. But ironically, best practices applied without context add risk, disengage teams, and lead to missed opportunities. Frameworks (Scrum, SAFe, etc.) are starting points, not endpoints. Retros, experimentation, and feedback loops help teams adapt their practices. There are no best practices in Agile. Resist static answers and instead ask, “What’s the right approach for us today?” Stay curious and committed to learning and growth. Move past the idea of universal answers and focus on what’s next.

Don't say "best practice" again until you read this! I've always had a prickly relationship with best practices. It's hard to lead while following what others deem "best." Joanna Parsons highlights my ick with deferring to best practices in her book 𝘐𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. She points out that one of the (many) issues with best practices is 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝘃𝗶𝘃𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗯𝗶𝗮𝘀 — the bias we have toward success while overlooking failure. We don't pay much attention to the losers. Joanna's connection between best practices and survivorship bias reminded me of something I think of often. Let's travel back to World War II. The Allies faced a critical problem: their bombers suffered heavy losses, and they needed to make the aircraft more resilient to enemy fire. The solution seemed obvious. When bombers returned from missions, they carefully mapped out and reinforced the most damaged areas. Yet they continued to lose planes — and lives. A brilliant statistician named Abraham Wald 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺. He realized that focusing on the damaged areas was misleading. Why? Because those planes 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗱. The bombers that didn't come back were likely damaged in areas that 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘥. It was those areas that needed reinforcement. His ability to examine the failures (the bombers that didn't return) and not just the successes (the bombers that came back) likely saved countless lives and perfectly illustrates the dangers of survivorship bias. Remember Joanna's connection between best practices and survivorship bias the next time you hear, "But this is the best practice." And if you want to learn more about her views on how best practice stifles innovation, check out Chapter 4 in her book. Go get 'em! 🚀 #communications #internalcomms #survivorshipbias #gogetem #marcom (📸 a plane with the most damaged areas marked)

🧠 Are Best Practices Overrated? I was on a podcast today and said I loved my role because I get to write the playbook vs follow someone else's! Consider this. 🦒 Best practices are often treated as gospel—tried-and-true methods that promise stability and efficiency. But here’s the catch: they’re based on past success, not future opportunity. And if you’re aiming to innovate, disrupt, or push boundaries, best practices might actually limit you. Here’s why: 👉 Best practices reinforce the status quo. They’re designed to minimize risk and ensure predictability. That’s valuable for stability, but if your goal is to break new ground, you can’t rely solely on yesterday’s playbook. 👉 Innovation thrives on experimentation. Disruptive ideas often emerge from questioning or outright breaking best practices. Think about how Netflix eliminated late fees, Tesla bypassed traditional dealerships, or OpenAI approached AI accessibility. These companies didn’t follow—they led. 👉 Best practices can create a false sense of security. You might feel like you’re doing everything “right,” but in fast-moving industries like #AI, #blockchain, #Quantum or #Web3, what’s “right” today might already be outdated tomorrow. 👉 Context matters. What works for one company, team, or market may not work for yours. Copying success without adapting to your unique strengths or challenges often leads to mediocrity—not greatness. So, what’s the alternative? ⁉️ Rather than asking, “What are the best practices?” ask: 1. What’s never been tried before? 2. What’s unique to us? 3. How can we design for the future, not the past? 💁♀️ The takeaway: Best practices are a great starting point—but they’re not the finish line. The companies that thrive are the ones willing to break the rules, reinvent processes, and set new standards. What do you think? Are best practices holding us back, or are they still essential for growth? Share your thoughts in the comments! ⬇️

“Best practices” are not the best practices..for you and your business. Most marketing advice is based on averages. A/B test results from Fortune 500s. Generic playbooks passed around on blogs. But what happens when everyone follows the same “best practice”? • Organic reach dies because algorithms detect formulaic content • Open rates drop because everyone uses the same subject line tricks • Ad costs rise because every competitor bids on the same “high converting” keywords Instead of blindly following best practices, ask: “Why did this work?” Then: • Adapt it to your audience • Test assumptions instead of copying • Break a rule on purpose and see what happens Sometimes, the worst practice on paper is what actually sets you apart.

You claim to act in your client’s best interest. But your business model makes you structurally incapable of doing so. The reason is a two-word phrase you worship as gospel: “Best Practice.” We sell it as a mark of quality. A sign of a mature, reliable operator. In reality, it’s the substitution of critical thought for scalable process. This creates a fatal disconnect: 🔸 Best Practice serves your MSP. 🔸 Best Interest serves the client. They are not the same thing; they are mortal enemies. ⸻ Think in terms of a fighter pilot’s OODA Loop: Observe. Orient. Decide. Act. ✅ Your RMM and PSA are brilliant at Observe. ✅ Your scripts are elite at Act. But “Best Practice” has completely hollowed out the vital stages in between: ❌ There is no Orient phase: your stack dictates the solution before your engineer can think. ❌ There is no Decide phase: there is only script execution. Your engineers have become processors, not pilots. You are paid for compliance. And compliance is a race to the bottom. ⸻ You stand at a fork in the road: 1️⃣ Down one path, you perfect a scalable ticket-closing machine that will be commoditized to zero. 2️⃣ Down the other, you build an advisory practice that delivers strategic judgment, an asset that cannot be outsourced. ⸻ So the question isn’t whether you use “Best Practice.” It is: Which business are you actually in?

𝗦𝗮𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗖𝗼𝘄𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗜𝗧: 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗙𝗶𝘃𝗲 “𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗣𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀” 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝗛𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗸 In IT, "best practices" are often seen as untouchable truths. But are they really helping your business or holding you back? My latest article dives into outdated IT practices that could cost companies time, money, and innovation. 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀: 🔸 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝘆𝘁𝗵 𝗼𝗳 “𝗙𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗡𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀” 𝗨𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲: Focusing on rapid recovery can save millions instead of chasing unrealistic uptime goals. 🔸 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘁𝗲 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗦𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆: 100% security doesn’t exist. Zero-trust architecture and incident response are more effective. 🔸 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Rigid IT standards can stifle innovation. Flexibility and experimentation lead to growth. 🔸 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗵𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗗𝗼𝗰𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Over-documenting slows you down. Focus on decisions and rationale instead. 🔸 𝗟𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵 𝗢𝗯𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻: Maximize existing resources before chasing new technology. Ready to rethink IT? Read the full article and discover why following the herd might not be the best move for your company.