best practices

The Next Best Thing

Monday, July 11th, 2016 by Adrian Segar

next best thing: photograph of a street with a ONE WAY sign. A man on the sidewalk is carrying a large arrow-shaped sign that says "Best FURNITURE We Sell For Less!"

“Best” is context-specific, a matter of opinion, and transitory. So, there will always be a next best thing.

When we use “best” dishonestly, we ignore one or more of these realities. We appeal to status, implying that our “best” thing is absolutely best, transcending environment, viewpoint, and the passage of time.

Claiming the highest status for our “best” thing preys on our audience’s fears by offering a simplistic solution. “Believe us, buy this, and Bingo! You can stop worrying that you might have made a mistake!”

Sure, when aware of environmental and personal context, it’s fine to make an in-the-moment judgment that some course of action is the best of multiple alternatives (be sure there are at least three!) We do this all the time.

But when we simply slap on a “Best” label we are selling comforting feelings disguised as our product or service.

In addition, believing that we have or are the best does us a disservice. We will focus on “best” practices instead of next practices. Consequently, we may maintain the status quo, but with the danger that at any time a competitor could make our “best” second best.

Ultimately, what’s important is to continuously strive to be the best, not for the sake of being the best, but from a genuine desire to provide the best value/outcomes/opportunities for one’s organization or clients. Rather than feeling proud under the illusion that you are the “best”, work to be proud of your own efforts and achievements (including the learning that occurs when things don’t go according to plan or you take a risk that doesn’t pan out.)

Live with the knowledge that “best”, while well worth pursuing, is a moving fluid target. Remember, there will always be a next best thing.

Photo attribution Flickr user thomashawk

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Next practices, not best practices!

Thursday, March 24th, 2011 by Adrian Segar

Next practices, not best practices: a photograph of a sign placed in front of four snack vending machines that says, "No food or drinks are allowed in this area. Thank you." Photo attribution: Flickr user heygabe.

Best Practices look backward, providing advice that worked in the past; Next Practices focus on what to do in the time ahead.
—The Internet Time Alliance

I always felt irritated, but never knew why, when I heard someone talk about best practices as the business processes we should strive for. Reading the excerpt quoted above, taken from the Working Smarter Glossary of the Internet Time Alliance led to an aha! moment.

Of course, there’s nothing wrong with learning about and comparing different approaches to solving problems or satisfying business requirements. We don’t need to reinvent the wheel or repeat mistakes that others have made.

But when we limit ourselves to the best that others are doing, two things happen.

Status quo and complacency

First, we blind ourselves to the reality that our world is constantly changing. The “best” of today may become quickly obsolete. As examples, we only need to look at how the music & publishing industries continue to cling to outmoded business models as digital distribution becomes commonplace.

And second, we don’t think about ways we might come up with something better. Example? Unlike the rest of the airline industry, Southwest Airlines has been profitable for 37 consecutive years. Not by implementing well-established practices of the fiercely competitive air transportation business. But by introducing new ways (flying out of smaller airports, standardizing airline fleets, employee profit-sharing, etc.) to satisfy customers and grow their market.

Learning about what’s best is fine for novices who need to get up to speed on what an industry currently does. Implementing next practices can be scary, because they may require us to do things that we, and perhaps no one else, have ever done before.

But, if we restrict ourselves to what’s currently best, then at best we’ll maintain the status quo, with the ever-present danger that at any time a competitor could make our industry’s best practices second best. Instead, focus on next practices. Doing this allows us to be open to reinventing our work, leading us to the potential of a profitable (and interesting) future.

Photo attribution: Flickr user heygabe

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