Best Principles, Not Best Practices
I get asked what the best practice is for something, all the time. I hate that question.
I was in the audience of a panel discussion of HR leaders talking about best practices for recruiting and retention to offset the “Great Resignation” and get people back to the office. Well attended session. Lots of owners/CEOs are looking for ideas for this. It is something that needs to be addressed at the businesses. They want to get it right. They have to get it right.
The panel was throwing one good idea after another at the audience, who were furiously scribbling them down. It went like this.
This is something you should do…
We did this and it worked…
This didn’t work, do this instead…
Here’s something else to do…
Don’t forget to do this….
Etc., etc. etc….
To me, and my tablemate seated next to me, it came across as throwing spaghetti against the refrigerator door to see if it's done. (If it sticks it’s done. Does anyone else do this? I do. It works. Or at least I think it works ;-).)
I’m not denigrating their ideas. They were good ones. They worked for the panelists.
Would they work for the audience? Were they “Best Practices?”
What was missing was the “Best Principles” behind each of the “Best Practices.” Without them there wasn’t any context for why they worked, no “why” behind the “what.”
Your chances for success, with a “Best Practice” go up substantially, when you understand the “Why” behind it, the “Best Principle” in play that makes it a “Best Practice.”
Even better, when you know the “why” behind the “what,” you can make the “Best Practice” even better because you can modify it to fit your exact set of circumstances.
It works like this. Dig in to learning the why(s) that is driving the problem or situation you are trying to address. Then learn the “Best Principles” that apply to your set of circumstances and figure out what to do. You’re smart enough, you can and will figure it out.
When someone asks about a “Best Practice,” my response usually brings up the “Best Principles” that apply and we proceed from there.
At Rock & Sand and the School of Rock & Sand my coaching and classes teach the “Best Principles” so we can use them to create the “Best Practices” for you and your team to employ to deliver the growth you. It’s an empowering way of coaching/consulting that delivers results. I know you’re smart enough for to make this work for you.