Why Best Practice Is an Implementation Killer
The Limitations of Best Practice
On October 10, 2016, Kishor Sridhar's latest book, "Hätte, würde, könnte – MACHEN" (translated: "Would, Could, Should – DO IT"), was published by Redline Verlag. In this fifth book, the top trainer and management consultant reveals the biggest stumbling blocks in our thinking and daily behavior that unconsciously prevent us from successfully implementing our ideas. One of these hidden implementation killers is Best Practice, and in this exclusive article for Speakers Excellence, bestselling author Kishor Sridhar explains why Best Practice does more harm than good.
The Appeal of Best Practice: A Familiar Trap
We have all encountered Best Practice at some point, whether we wanted to or not. The core idea behind the term is that what worked well once should work just as well again. So, we look at what others in our industry or company are doing especially well and adopt their Best Practice as a benchmark for our own actions. There are countless management books that are filled with Best Practice examples, and many consultants make a lot of money from this approach, claiming to have access to a secret Best Practice database—a treasure chest full of the best knowledge from the best companies. The promise is simple: just follow these approaches, and success will follow. In the end, we are often left with nothing more than a few anecdotes, without any real insight into how to achieve success.
The Shortcomings of Best Practice
While we can indeed learn a lot from success stories, especially when venturing into new territory, these Best Practice examples do not automatically lead to success. On the contrary, they can even hold us back—particularly when we are working on new ideas. Best Practice has two significant flaws:
1. It Makes Us Lazy and Comfortable
Pre-packaged solutions make us lazy thinkers, causing us to adopt processes without critically evaluating them. We stop engaging our brains and simply follow what's been done before.
2. It’s Like a Standard Kit That Doesn’t Always Fit
Best Practice is like a standard kit: the measurements might fit, but they don’t have to. And when they don’t, we run into problems. We realize that the approach isn’t working, but because it’s “Best Practice,” which is supposed to be the proven best solution, we start doubting ourselves instead of questioning the method.
The Stagnation of Innovation Through Best Practice
I’m not exaggerating when I say that I’ve encountered very innovative companies that, once they caught the Best Practice virus, had their innovation capacity significantly slowed down. Sure, Best Practice doesn’t always lead to worst results, especially if we understand its limitations. But just because something worked once doesn’t mean it will work in every situation.
For example, if you successfully organized a princess-themed birthday party for your nine-year-old daughter, that’s great Best Practice for that context. However, if you try to apply that same concept to your sixteen-year-old son's birthday party, it will likely be a huge failure—unless you adjust the idea, perhaps by inviting sixteen-year-old princesses. The key takeaway is that Best Practice needs to be adapted to the context, not mindlessly copied.
From Best Practice to Better Practice
For those who still believe in Best Practice, I ask: If it was Best Practice in the Stone Age to make fire with stones and dry grass, why do we have lighters today? Watching Best Practice examples is not inherently wrong; the right approach should be: be inspired rather than copy. Your project deserves more than Best Practice – it deserves Better Practice.
