Don't hesitate to rethink best practices!

by Sharky

abstract

This article challenges the conventional reliance on “best practices,” highlighting their potential obsolescence in a rapidly changing world. Drawing from insights shared by Adam Grant on the You Are Not So Smart podcast, the author emphasizes the importance of continually rethinking established methods. Citing examples of companies that failed to adapt, the author urges readers to stay flexible and question assumptions regularly.

Two women sit on opposite ends of a park bench, symbolizing the contrast between old and new thinking.
On the left, an elderly woman in a gray outfit sits in a worn, decaying urban environment with cracked pavement, an old tram, and vintage technology.
On the right, a young, beautiful woman in a striking red dress sits confidently in a vibrant, futuristic cityscape, surrounded by lush greenery and sleek architecture.

While listening to the podcast, You Are Not So Smart, ep. 232, I heard Adam Grant, author of Think Again, brilliantly summarize one of two big problems I have with the notion of "best practices."

The world is changing faster than it ever has in the past. If you look at the acceleration of knowledge, the evolution of technology — if you go back a couple hundred years, it was pretty reasonable to … come up with a strategy for your company or … a world view to operate on and basically stick to it, because you were living in a stable world. And now in a dynamic world, many of your best practices were created for an environment that just does not exist anymore. Which I think is one of the reasons that Blackberry, Blockbuster, [etc.] all went out of business.

Of course, this observation is highly applicable to nearly every contemporary engineering problem. We learn to do something in a particular way, and then we fail to question, as often we should, whether it still makes sense to do it that way. Grant refers to companies like the unfortunate ones mentioned above as

groups of people who are decent at thinking but too slow when it came to rethinking

He noted that

they fell in love with the way they'd always done things, and they did not question their assumptions until it was too late.

Kodak invented the digital camera in the 1980s, but they sold film, so they buried it. Selling film was, apparently, their best practice. Clearly, that best practice was a mistake. They could have made a killing with their invention.

Don't take any of your "best practices" for granted! They may not have even been "best" when you first adopted them. But who's to judge? That's the point, right? Even if your notion of "best" is objective and uncontroversial, this situation won't remain forever. Always be prepared and willing to reevaluate. 🦈