Better Practices

Best practices became best practices for a reason. Through trial and error, they’re the practices that came out on top by solving most people’s problems again and again.

But what happens with someone’s problem falls outside the area of best practices? Suddenly the scripts we prepared are no good, and the answers we have are all wrong.

What was supposed to be the best is suddenly the worst. So we look for another best practice, hoping this one will be different. Succeeding where the other failed, only to inevitably end up where we started.

Instead, we should look for better practices. Replacing the scripts with conversation and answers with questions. Adopting a learning mindset that lets go of prescriptive methodology in favour of thinking and rethinking, knowing what we don’t know, doubting existing practices, and staying curious about new routines to try out.

Adopting better practices doesn’t mean giving up best practices. It means not wasting time assigning answers to partially solved problems and instead, spending time asking questions to get to the heart of the solution.