In countless boardrooms, workshops, and team retrospectives, the term “best practice” gets thrown around like gospel. Adopt the best practice, and success will follow — or so the story goes. But when you look closer, something uncomfortable surfaces: “Best practice” often signals not just a shortcut to efficiency, but a subtle surrender of curiosity, critical thinking, and boldness.
Why “Best Practice” Became the Default
In fast-moving industries — digital strategy, UX, tech — the pressure to not fail is immense. Teams lean into best practices to reduce risk, streamline onboarding, and provide stakeholders with reassuring signals of professionalism.
Best practice = Safe practice.
It’s a way of saying: We’re not reckless. We follow the proven path.
But that safety comes at a hidden cost.
The Hidden Decay of “Best Practices”
The moment something becomes a best practice, two things happen:
- It fossilizes.
No matter how innovative it once was, it becomes static. And static practices rarely fit dynamic, evolving markets. - It loses context.
Best practices were often created for specific environments. Ripping them out of their original context and dropping them into yours without questioning can lead to misalignment, mediocrity, or worse — competitive stagnation.
In this light, best practices can become a form of elegant intellectual laziness: they look smart, they sound strategic, but they stop critical evaluation at the exact moment when deeper questioning would create real competitive advantage.
When Best Practices Actually Work
Of course, not all best practices are bad. In high-risk domains — cybersecurity, aviation, healthcare — codifying best practices literally saves lives.
But in creative, strategic, and user-driven fields, where uniqueness, agility, and brand differentiation are key? Overreliance on best practice is often a death knell for innovation.
What you should ask instead:
- “What is the intent behind this best practice?”
- “Does it fit our specific users, market, and moment?”
- “How could we bend it, remix it, or evolve it?”
Moving Beyond “Best”
The highest-performing teams treat best practice not as an end point, but a starting hypothesis.
They test, tinker, challenge, and adapt — creating next practices that better fit the real, messy, living world they’re designing for.
👉 In 2025 and beyond, “intelligent deviation” may matter far more than orthodox perfection.
The boldest brands won’t just “follow best practice.”
They’ll outgrow it — and their users, markets, and competitors will feel the difference.