Why You Should Ignore Best Practices
Today, I want to talk about something that we all happen to go through in our life.
Imagine you're launching a new product or business.
And the majority of people will do some research or self-study. You then will use that self-study to get to that big, audacious goal you have. And that's normal.
But…
What you do when you don't know how to solve a problem?
In a situation when you don't know what to do; you pull everything that you think is going to help you.
People like certainty. We are trained to have certainty. That's why what we take comfort in pulling in things from other areas that hopefully would give you an indication of what you should be doing.
And that leads up to you being overwhelmed with the amount of literature you can read. I understand that reading things gives you comfort, BUT...
When we don't know something, we seek out comfort from people who supposedly know the answer. In business, we look at influencers, business leaders, and their writing.
So when you read something, you have to keep in mind the recommendation they provide is relevant to your context.
For example, in science, there are no theories that are right or wrong. All theories will work in a specific context.
Your job, beyond blindly following the best practice, is to make sure that the context for your situation is similar to the context of the advice being presented. That is one of the biggest mistakes most people do.
If you want to do things differently, you can't apply best practice, because best practices mean you're copying what someone else did.
And if you try to be unique, you have to look at what others did and adapt it for what you have done.
Use the PDR process to achieve that:
PDR process stands for PLAN something, DO it, REVIEW it.
But don't spend a month planning something, because the process of doing something teaches you more than the process of planning it.
The way it works, it teaches you to be nimble, agile. Run test pilots of your product, learn, and adapt quickly.
Don't simply do what others do, do what is unique to your situation.
Remember that 'Best practices' is copying what others did. You can't break out of the pack by doing what others did. They may inspire you, but you have to do it differently.
Even if you copy what others do, remember that it has to work within your context. If you following the recommendation, make sure the environment is right in which your company operates.
Thank you for reading!
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