Navigating Best Practices: When to Bend the Rules for Better Outcomes

Adhering to best practices is often seen as the key to success. However, there are instances when veering off the beaten path can yield better results. Sometimes, the best way to handle a situation is by not following best practices rigidly, especially when they clash with your team's unique workflow, goals, or present unforeseen risks.

Understanding Best Practices and the Art of Breaking Them

Best practices, guidelines born from collective experiences to ensure efficiency, safety, and quality, often direct teams toward proven methods. However, their implementation can vary in dynamic environments, where they might not always be suitable. For example, a software development team might choose to forego certain standardized testing protocols when working on a rapidly evolving project with tight deadlines, opting instead for more agile, iterative testing to better align with the project's pace and innovation needs. This flexibility can lead to enhanced creativity, problem-solving, and more customized, successful outcomes. When two best practices are at odds, the definition of best practice can be flexibly interpreted in a larger scope. An example being, when software offers limited issue coverage, necessitating an expanded approach to best practices to enhance test coverage in risk-prone environments. This should be implemented with a clearly outlined plan to revert to standard best practices once the risks are mitigated and resources can be appropriately allocated.

Prioritizing Known Risks Over Unknowns in Decision Making

The essence of risk management lies in identifying and prioritizing known risks before venturing into the unknown. When best practices are at odds with identifiable risks, it's often wiser to address these known issues first. Adhering to a best practice that overlooks a glaring risk can lead to significant setbacks. Instead, by focusing on these known challenges, teams can develop more robust solutions that are better suited to their specific circumstances. Once the known risks are managed, and follow-ups are defined, attention can then be shifted to exploring and mitigating unknown risks, paving the way for more well-fit and adaptable strategies that might not align perfectly with established best practices but are more effective in the given context. Another example could be the approach of temporarily loosening best practices to meet an immediate deadline, while simultaneously creating 'Fast-Follow' tickets to adapt better practices in the long run. This method produces both a short-term and long-term strategy, building a more comprehensive vision for the product's development path over time. By balancing immediate needs with future goals, teams can ensure quick delivery without compromising the overall quality and integrity of the product.

While best practices serve as invaluable roadmaps to guide teams and individuals, they are not infallible. The key to success often lies in recognizing when to adhere to these guidelines and when to carve a new path. By understanding when to break these rules in favor of addressing known risks and adapting to unique situations, teams can achieve more sustainable and effective outcomes. Best practices are a great compatibility guideline, not an absolute truth.