Comments on: Why Best Practices Don’t Work for Knowledge Work

By: Peter Chomley

Peter Chomley — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 06:14:30 +0000

Luis, just re-reading Anthony DiBella (Chap 9 – Learning Practices – Assessment and Action for Organizational Improvement) where he prefers “Best Principles” to “Best Pracs”. The challenge in trasnferring a “best prac” from one org to another is that often the context is not considered. The need to understand, reflect and re-invent (probe/sense/ re-innovate maybe) before responding.

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 21:04:51 +0000

I the health and development sphere I have also heard “evidence-based” practices and “promising practices”. Obviously, one comes before the other. “lessons learned” is a good terminology when you want to be context specific because the lesson comes AFTER an experience that is always relative to an individual. In closing, from now on I’ll average good and best and stick to “great”.

By: Reinventing the wheel in a U-shape « some place else: diversity, learning and change

Wed, 07 Jul 2010 13:28:15 +0000

[...] only wanted to learn from the best. Best practices are still very popular. Recently in a blog on best practices for knowledge management Suarez expressed the hope they would soon transform into “good [...]

By: E L S U A ~ A KM Blog Thinking Outside The Inbox by Luis Suarez » Why Lessons Learned Will Be Critical for Enterprise 2.0 to Succeed

Mon, 03 May 2010 22:56:04 +0000

[...] he was reflecting on a recent article that I wrote on that same subject under the heading "Why Best Practices Don’t Work for Knowledge Work". In those two entries Bill comes to build further up on the notion that, perhaps, "best [...]

By: Prasanna Lal Das

Prasanna Lal Das — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 21:09:38 +0000

You say it much better than I did — http://prasannalaldas.blogspot.com/2008/07/say-no-to-good-practices-in-database.html

By: Dennis Pearce

Dennis Pearce — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 18:31:13 +0000

In general I agree with your post, Luis. However, might I suggest a “meta” best practice — include feedback loops in your KM and social computing processes and systems wherever possible. Otherwise, how will anyone know when the current best practice has outlived its usefulness?

By: Paul Lucas

Paul Lucas — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 22:20:46 +0000

very insightful Luis; many thanks!

By: Fredrik Matheson

Fredrik Matheson — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 06:23:04 +0000

@jim: which metrics do you use?

By: Jim Hodson

Jim Hodson — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 20:37:43 +0000

Being highly tuned to metrics that discern improvement from the contrary is the only way to survive in a dynamic world. Baldrige and Deming had this figured out years ago. Make sure each morph is measured and in the right direction.

Jim Hodson
CEO Countdown To Buy
http://www.coundowntobuy.com

By: Dr. Dan Kirsch

Dr. Dan Kirsch — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 11:57:11 +0000

Agree completely on all points, but I take a much more direct approach to get to the same “destination” in that I suggest that at BEST, a best practice has limited strategic value to begin with. A best practice is at best, “new to you knowledge.” New to you knowledge isn’t what feeds innovation which needs as its spark, new knowledge. All boats float in a storm, and all boats rise on the tide. So indeed a best practice does become as stated above a “common practice” and that doesn’t in the end really get you much (and that’s assuming that you can even apply the best practice).

This, I believe, is exactly why KM is ill suited for common methodologies and such and why efforts by one organization to simply copy what another does are doomed to fail.