Posted by Martyn R Jones on July 05, 1999 at 11:44:38:

In Reply to: Avoid "best practices" posted by Lauri Grohn on July 05, 1999 at 09:48:01:

Hello,

WWII British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was quoted as saying that "Democracy is the worst system devised by the wit of man, except for all the others" which could also be applied to "labels" - how we describe and identify things. Hence the surfeit of labels, some of them ill fitting, most of them to some degree inaccurate and quite a healthy number of labels are open to a wide range of interpretation. Therefore the label “best practices” can also be interpreted in a variety of ways, and if we add the further complexity of how “best practices” is interpreted across industry, from SME to Corporations, from one country to another, from one capital city to the next, then we can build a hugely rich “albanico” of interpretations.

On the other hand, the term “best practices” (which is quite probably shorthand for “these are the best ways we know of doing things right now” and that “best ways” in that sentence is perhaps shorthand for “maximum effect, maximum payback minimum cost, minimum disruption” ) when used together with “perpetual learning”, “know how sharing” and some corporate form of “knowledge management” does make a little more sense and ensures “todays best practices are not necessarily tomorrows best practices”.

Best regards,

Martyn R Jones
@.org

• uncovering, understanding and using business knowledge and information

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