The business landscape is constantly evolving, with new technologies, market demands, and competitive pressures emerging regularly. What worked yesterday is unlikely to work today or tomorrow. Locking into a best practice can prevent a company from adapting to these changes, leaving it vulnerable to more agile competitors.

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The Pitfalls of a “Best Practice”

Stagnation and Lack of Innovation

A major risk of getting locked into a best practice is that it can create a culture of comfortable complacency. If a team believes they are already using the “best” method, there’s little motivation to explore new, potentially more effective ways of working. This can lead to a lack of innovation, where teams simply repeat the same processes, as this is something that they are comfortable with. Without questioning their efficiency or relevance can lead to Stagnation for a business that needs to stay ahead of the curve.

Inflexibility and Inability to Adapt

Best practices are often designed for a specific context. When that context changes, the practice become obsolete. For example, a “best practice” for marketing a product has been based on traditional media like print or television. In today’s digital world, sticking to that old practice would be a huge mistake. By being too rigid, an organization can miss out on new opportunities and fail to respond to threats.

Overlooking Unique Circumstances

Every organization is unique, with its own culture, goals, and challenges. A best practice that works for one company is not a good fit for another. Simply copying a process without considering your own specific needs can lead to inefficiencies and frustration. It can also cause a loss of competitive advantage if you’re doing the same thing as everyone else.

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How to avoid the Pitfalls of a “Best Practice”

Foster a Culture of Continuous Improvement

Instead of viewing practices as “best,” think of them as “current best.” This subtle but important shift in mindset encourages a culture of continuous improvement. Regularly review and challenge existing processes. Ask questions like:

• “Is this still the most effective way to do this?”
• “What new tools or technologies improve this process?”
• “What can we learn from our failures?”
• “What would happen if we tried something completely different?”

Encourage Experimentation

Create a safe environment for teams to experiment and try new things, even if they fail. Allocate time and resources for pilot projects and new initiatives. Celebrate learning from failures rather than punishing them. This approach helps to discover new, more effective methods and fosters a dynamic, innovative environment.

Stay Informed and Connected

Keep up with the latest trends and developments in your industry. Attend conferences, read industry publications, and network with peers. Pay attention to what your competitors are doing, but also look for inspiration from other industries. Staying informed helps you identify when a “best practice” is becoming outdated and what new approaches are emerging.

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Sources

• Drucker, P. F. (2007). Innovation and Entrepreneurship. HarperBusiness.
• Collins, J. (2001). Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t. HarperBusiness.
• Christensen, C. M. (1997). The Innovator’s Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail. Harvard Business Review Press.

Fostering a Culture of Continuous Improvement

A Continuous Improvement culture is one where everyone, at every level, is empowered to identify and implement improvements. Senior leaders are instrumental in fostering this culture by:

• Encouraging psychological safety: Employees must feel safe to suggest ideas and even fail without fear of retribution. Senior leaders create this environment by celebrating the suggestions and learning from mistakes, rather than punishing or ignoring them.
• Identify and remove any organizational barriers: This includes bureaucratic red tape, allocation of resources (time, money, or people), interdepartmental silos, or a culture of resistance to change.
• Leading by example: When senior leaders actively participate in Continuous Improvement events and show genuine curiosity about the process, it encourages others to do the same.
• Recognizing and rewarding efforts: Acknowledging and rewarding employees’ contributions to Continuous Improvement, and the resulting impact, reinforces positive behavior and motivates others to get involved. This doesn’t always have to be a monetary reward; public recognition and praise can be just as effective.

By championing a culture of Continuous Improvement, senior leadership ensures that improvement is not just a one-off project but an ongoing, embedded part of the company’s DNA.

Sources

• Womack, J. P., Jones, D. T., & Roos, D. (1990). The Machine That Changed the World: The Story of Lean Production.
• Imai, M. (1986). Kaizen: The Key to Japan’s Competitive Success.
• Rother, M. (2009). Toyota Kata: Managing People for Improvement, Adaptiveness, and Superior Results.

The Paradox of a Full Set of Features

This is a common problem in applications that try to be everything to everyone. Using Constructive Disruption creates Consistent Delight.

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What is Constructive Disruption

Constructive disruption is a powerful way to create products and services that deliver consistent delight. Instead of viewing disruption as a chaotic force that destroys existing systems, it’s about intentionally challenging the status quo to build something better. This approach focuses on strategic limitations and purposeful innovation, which in turn leads to a more focused and effective user experience.

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The Power of Constraints

Constructive disruption flips the Full Feature model on its head by embracing constraints. By intentionally limiting features or resources, we force ourselves to be more creative and strategic. Think of it like a puzzle: a few well-chosen pieces can create a beautiful image, while too many irrelevant pieces just create noise. This approach helps IT teams focus on a few key areas that provide the most value to the user.

• Microservices: This architectural pattern is a prime example of constructive disruption in action. Instead of one large, complex application, the system is broken into small, independent services, each with a single, well-defined purpose. The limitation of scope for each service forces teams to create elegant and scalable solutions. This results in systems that are easier to maintain, deploy, and update, leading to a more reliable and delightful experience for end-users.
• Minimalist UI/UX: The best user interfaces don’t have a hundred features on a single screen. They guide the user to their goal with the fewest possible clicks. This intentional restriction of options removes friction and delivers a clean, intuitive, and highly satisfying experience. The delight comes not from the number of things the software can do, but from how effortlessly it helps you do what you need.

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The Consistent Delight Loop

When IT teams embrace constructive disruption, they enter a value add cycle:

1. Define the Core Value: By focusing on what truly matters, the team can build a more robust and reliable core product.
2. Strategic Innovation: Instead of adding random features, innovation is directed toward enhancing the core value within the existing constraints.
3. User Satisfaction: Users experience a product that “works for them”. The consistent high quality of the experience builds trust and loyalty.

This kind of delight isn’t a one-time “wow” moment from a new feature. It’s the persistent satisfaction that comes from using a product that consistently works as expected, and makes their life easier. It’s the kind of delight that makes a product indispensable.