Best practices aren’t best

They’re often just repackaged ‘standard practices’, and they’re seldom ‘best’.

They’re simply what most people do:

• ‘Standard’ rejects unprofitable activity: even if it delights a pocket of customers, turning them into evangelists… perhaps its profitable after all.
• ‘Standard’ sells anyone who meets spec: even if it’s a bad fit for them and you know it. Eventually they’ll know it too… perhaps they weren’t ‘spec’ after all.
• ‘Standard’ does what standards do: the same as everybody else. A rapid descent toward commoditization… perhaps only following standards isn’t ‘best’ after all.

We should all know our industry’s standards.

And follow them.

Then raise the bar.