In Part 1, Dan Wooldridge explained how the pursuit of best practices can lead to “average-ness” rather than excellence. In Part 2 he described four problems of thoughtlessly pursuing best practices. In this post, he outlines a better way to think about best practices. If the pursuit of best practices can be wasteful, even dangerous, does it make sense to go after them? The answer is a conditional yes. What makes the difference is how you pursue best practices. Here are seven suggestions for the chase.

1. Always be on the lookout, in and out of your industry for good ideas. Bring fresh ideas and thinking into your company and industry.
2. Don’t just imitate the surface-level physical process. Study the practice in its context. Learn how it came about. Learn about the context itself. Learn what didn’t work and why.
3. Separate correlation from cause. Pfeffer and Sutton, in Hard Facts, Dangerous Half-Truths & Total Nonsense explain that Herb Kelleher, CEO/founder of Southwest Airlines was known for consuming large amounts of Wild Turkey bourbon. Leaders who make snap judgments about what best practices might decide that they need to drink lots of Wild Turkey also. But the bourbon only correlates to Southwest’s success; it’s not the cause. Southwest’s outstanding culture is the secret.
4. Imitate the thinking and learning process of the best practice organization. Learn from their worldview. What did they see? What did they believe?
5. Try small experiments and pilots. Iteratively test and measure your way to improvement…I repeat…prototype, test, measure, and improve. Adapt to your own culture and systems and people. Constantly improve upon it.
6. Understand what is of strategic importance to your company. Not every practice is mission critical.
7. And if consultants come knocking, ask for tangible proof that their other clients have improved their performance. And be sure to ask what it really cost their clients to implement, beyond the initial engagement fee, in terms of money, time, and manpower. Then, even if you buy, still test and measure your results and costs.

Best practices are best understood in the context of organizational learning. Mindless imitation is not helpful and often dangerous. Thoughtful study of good examples can help us become better thinkers and performers. I think an initial best practice to pursue is creating a tightly knit group of people with common purpose and values who can work as peers to solve problems and advance the mission of the organization.

Next Up: Are there Biblical Best Practices?