Most companies, organizations and professions like to talk about best practice sharing and how much value it can add however very few talk about best practice implementation. One could wonder why that is since no value at all is added if best practices are only shared, but not implemented. One could even argue that organizations that are seen as world class at best practice sharing even end up destroying value because everyone in the organization are so busy showcasing what THEY can do, but not implementing what OTHERS can do. If you think about it however perhaps this is a very natural reaction and here are 4 reasons why.
- Everyone likes all the great things they do themselves, but finds it hard to admit that others are doing something even better
- Who has the right to define what a best practice is? Especially if people are competing about who has the best practice
- If you implement a best practice can you also take credit for the benefits and value added it brings?
- Most people resist change and having to implement someone else’s next big thing will definitely disrupt the way you are working
So the question is what can be done to further advance best practice implementation? First of all if you see someone else having made something you can use to do even better why wouldn’t you use it? Just like you educate yourself or read posts right here on LinkedIn to better yourself, implementing best practices will only help you and your organization to do better. Second it doesn’t really matter who defines what a best practice is since if you see something that works better than what you already have why wouldn’t you start to use it? Third how about not being able to take credit? Well at the end of the day it’s not just about you doing well, but also about the organization you are part of. You most likely also have individual targets where implementing best practices will help you achieve them. Then it might be that the one who invented the best practice will do even better than you, but at least you will not be a bottom feeder! Last but not least if you are still resisting change in a world where everything is changing faster than ever before then it’s time to wake up and smell the best practice implementing roses. Otherwise you will soon be extinct and let’s be honest who want’s to end up like that?
In summary there is no good excuse for not implementing best practices, but if you have one please let me know. Please also share your story on how implementing a best practice helped you achieve your goals.