Context and problems with “Best Practice”
I sometimes have to suppress a shudder when people use the term “best practice”. Despite a positive sounding name, the idea of “best practice” is almost always used in a way that is restrictive rather than enabling. Declaring one approach or solution as “best practice” by implication shuts out other answers.
I will admit that for some (very narrow) fields there can be a common understanding of the one best way to do something, but this is often so well understood that it does not even get a name. Walking on your feet is generally better than walking on your hands or knees, for example, but I have never met anyone who referred to foot-walking as “best practice”.
In my world of software development, where the landscape changes at a moment’s notice, naming something as “best practice” is tantamount to declaring it obsolete. Yet large numbers of software developers still numbly follow the its lead.
James Bach tackles a similar issue in testing James Bach’s Blog » Blog Archive » The Great Implication of Context-Driven Methodology.
For years Frank Carver has been paying attention to the strange world of convergent technology. During that time he has discussed and researched broad subject areas, come to some surprising conclusions, produced and distributed digital media, scattered ideas and opinions like sparks from a firework, and above all consulted for businesses both large and small to help develop and deploy successful systems, services, and products in this highly complex arena.
