Post #30

The best is the enemy of the good. Why CIOs should avoid "best practices"? Good reading for a Friday! CIO.compublished a column by Bob Lewis, who claims all common "best practices" are nothing but a fraud — that should be avoided at all costs. ‘The idea of “best practices” is deeply wrong for these reasons: (1) It’s argument by assertion, not evidence and logic; (2) “best” is contextual, not absolute; and (3) it encourages stasis by precluding innovation,’ — Lewis says. Argument by assertion When IT leader is being told about the best way of doing things, they should ask themselves what the criteria are for awarding it best-practice status? Or who is authorized to give out the award? There is no such group in most cases. Best is contextual There is no silver bullet for fixing all problems in business. For any given practice, different organizations need to optimize different dimensions. Which makes designing the best-at-everything practice in IT no more possible than designing anything else that’s best in all situations. Stasis over innovation A best practice should be, by definition, a practice that can’t be improved. If CIO masters it, they settle down knowing that the limit of perfection has been achieved yet. However, the rest of the market will keep evolving. So who is going to succeed after all? Read the full column by the link. #Management