Are "Best Practices," Best?
Most government central planning is based on the notion that scientific experts can determine “best practices” which will rationally control human decision-making.
They assume they can put all the relevant scientific theories together and come up with something like a black box. The doctor will feed the symptoms into the black box and the best practices answer will just pop out like a receipt at an ATM machine.
It doesn’t work that way. Not in economics, agriculture, parenting, or medicine. Unfortunately, almost all proposals for central government control rely on best practice mechanisms.
Science is a tool for understanding the world. Practical or applied sciences are tools for changing the world. But everyone, even scientists, use an enormous web of different scientific theories to explain reality and to make decisions. Each theory is like a net or a lens which only picks-up and explains some facts and ignores others. So when macroeconomic theories fail in practice, the theoretical economists generally claim they failed because of “externalities.” Externalities are facts that a particular theory cannot anticipate and cannot deal with. And those facts don’t simply go away. Facts can be stubborn that way.
Let’s take ulcers as an example. Throughout most of human history, stomach ulcers were identified simply as very bad stomachaches. Then people noticed that certain foods like spicy curry often, but not always, were associated with some very bad stomachaches. Other scientists discovered that nervous people were far more likely to get ulcers. In fact, some ulcer patients thrive on curry. As scientific tools advanced, someone discovered that there is a great deal of iron excreted in the patient’s feces. That means internal bleeding. Ulcer patients could and often did bleed to death. So for years the best practices treatment of ulcers recommended the patients eat only baby food, ingest antacids (and later newly developed drugs to inhibit the production of stomach acids) and take tranquilizers. If the hemorrhaging continued, a surgeon would cut out the ulcerated sores taking with them a large part of the stomach. Believe it or not, such stomach surgery was quite common until a few decades ago when some enterprising scientists came up with the crackpot theory that some ulcers were caused by bacteria. Those scientists began treating ulcer patients with antibiotics. For many people it worked. So the best practices people, even the surgeons, had to modify all the earlier theories to fit the new facts. Each of those theories is true to some extent. Which combination of treatments the doctor and patient choose is a question of what works for this doctor, this patient, and this situation. There is no magical “best practices” black box. No abracadabra. But thanks to the willingness to use and adapt new theories and to respect the facts, stomach surgery as a treatment of ulcers is virtually a thing of the past.
So if you are a doctor, a farmer, a parent, an entrepreneur (or all of the above) keep informed on all the available science and best practice literature. But every patient, every alfalfa field, every child, every business is different. And don’t ignore the knowledge you, your family, and your neighbors have accumulated over the years. Studies have shown that the average man in the street is a better predictor of the future state of the economy than the educated economist. Decisions made at the individual level tend to work out better.
Unfortunately, you can’t just put off making decisions until you have enough information. In the real world decisions must be made under conditions of uncertainty. You won’t ever have enough information until your crop is harvested, your patient recovers/dies, or your child is in her thirties.
So:
- Pray that you have made the right decision;
- Hedge your bets;
- Constantly adapt to the unexpected; and
- Try not to worry yourself into a case of ulcers.
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Jul '11
Re: Are "Best Practices," Best?
An emeritus pulmonologist I knew told me that the MD should be awarded posthumously. Flow charts for dealing with issues are fine and helpful but experience is critical as is the fact that individuals often defy generalizations.
Nice history of ulcer therapy cbc.
Sep '11
Re: Are "Best Practices," Best?
Best practices has another poor effect when imposed. They stop progress cold. If you envision business, society etc... as a well-oiled machine that's great. Until the world that machine operates in changes and then you've got a useless piece of junk.
Businesses, societies etc... are all organisms. If you prevent them from adapting, you can kill them.
Apr '12
Re: Are "Best Practices," Best?
As a process management consultant, I know that "Best Practices" work best only in certain realms. For instance, take accounting. If you are not following best practices in accounting, somebody's future may involve an orange jumpsuit. Most of the "Best Practices" I have encountered are in areas like this that are either very rule-oriented and not necessarily in the mainstream of what an organization does. They are support functions. Human resource practices are another area.
On the other hand, marketing and sales practices tend to diverge by industry, market niche and other things. As much as there can be said to be "Best Practices," there are actually multiple best paths.
On the core business processes in a dynamic organization which is responding to the market, culture and many other factors go into determining what really works best. They may also have requirements in these core areas that are way beyond the capacity of "Best Practices."
In government, there are some best practices, but they are seldom followed. For instance, keep the solutions as local as possible to the problems. Washington should not be trying to solve every traffic death at an intersection or school curriculum. Seen that lately?
Nov '10
Re: Are "Best Practices," Best?
I love this knowledgeable, thoughtful post. I come to Ricochet for essays like these.
Apr '12
Re: Are "Best Practices," Best?
shorteddy mentions innovation, and is spot on about that. In a business' core processes, you don't want the best practices that your competitors are doing. You want the better than best practices. You want to leapfrog over them and establish the new best practices.
Sep '11
Re: Are "Best Practices," Best?
I like the distinction pointed out by Arahant.
I would argue that there are evolving community standard practices in REPORTING information (e.g. accounting) and avoiding LEGAL pitfalls.
But when it comes not to dealing with areas not constrained by human rules (e.g. ulcers, technology, leadership) the variance of reality takes the lead.
Apr '12
Re: Are "Best Practices," Best?
Going back to gevernment best practices, another would be: stay within the limits of your founding documents. Again, when was the last time you saw that applied? A lot of folks don't realize that governments are just another form of corporation. Like a for profit corporation, a government has by-laws. They may be called the Constitution or City Charter or by other names. These documents often limit what a government is supposed to do. But as with some other corporations, the bylaws are not always (i. e. "seldom") followed. Annual audit? We'll get around to that in a year or three. Enumerated powers? Ha ha! We'll do anything we please.
In systems terms, what often happens when the federal government pokes its nose where it shouldn't is called shifting the burden to the intervener. This is true of states interfering in cities, too. Detroit going broke? Why do we need a state-appointed manager? How about a chapter 7-style bankrupty instead? Or a chapter 11-style? If the corporation (city) is dissolved, perhaps the neighborhoods can reform to take care of themselves? Instead, we have a takeover from above, like Obama and GM.
Apr '12
Re: Are "Best Practices," Best?
A third government best practice is go for the rule of law, not the rule of man. Application of the law should not be arbitrary or capricious. It should apply to all equally without prejudice. A pardon or waiver should be an exception, not standard practice. And if such things are granted, there should be some fairly objective rules in the process. If granting a waiver is based on whether the High Panjandrum likes you or you have provided the proper bribe, you have veered into the rule of man.
Yes, judges and juries should have some leeway to evaluate extenuating circumstances when sentencing a convicted criminal. A fifth-time offender might get a harsher sentence than a one-off offender. But that is not the same as, "if the Secretary deems..."
Mar '11
Re: Are "Best Practices," Best?
Are best practices themselves really the problem, or is it the calcificied imposition thereof by authorities?
The application of "best practices" in some form will always be necessary for many fields to compensate for a lack in information, in personal experience, in time to make a fully informed decision. Certainly every case is different, but not every practicioner has the time, knowledge, or experience to take those factors into consideration. Best practices, even when known to have flaws, can still be the most efficient manner of bringing a large number of individual actors to a common goal.
The problem arises when these procedures are imposed by an agent who does not have the best interest of the practicioner at heart.
Apr '12
Re: Are "Best Practices," Best?
I can think of one more governmental best practice: apply it to the goverment, too. Exempting the body, such as Congress, from the rule that everyone else has to conform to never goes over well. It may also be dangerous or otherwise heighten risk for the corporation (city, state, nation, etc.) For instance, if a city creates a building code for the sake of safety, city buildings should not be exempted from the code. It sounds silly, but I bet there are examples out there where city buildings are not up to code or are exempted from the inspections. Certainly we know of lots of examples where Congress has exempted itself from laws.
Anyone else think of any governmental best practices? This might make a good article itself.
Mar '11
Re: Are "Best Practices," Best?
shorteddy: Best practices has another poor effect when imposed. They stop progress cold. If you envision business, society etc... as a well-oiled machine that's great. Until the world that machine operates in changes and then you've got a useless piece of junk.
Businesses, societies etc... are all organisms. If you prevent them from adapting, you can kill them.
The flip side of this coin is the conservatism of the market.
Most (not all) consumers are not willing to risk a large portion of their wealth or health on an untested proposition, or one which diverges from the current orthodoxy (major exceptions being severly ill patients).
There is an interesting phenomenon in virological genetics known as error catastrophe. Although viruses can mutate their genomes and thus adapt and improve faster than any other organisms, there is a point at which the viruses mutate so quickly that they can never coalesce around the most efficient variants, and the entire population suffers as a result. It turns out that innovation in genetics also favors conservatism.
Aug '10
Re: Are "Best Practices," Best?
By definition, if a practice is truly "best" then it's impossible to come up with a better option.
As such, the number of actual "best practices" is remarkably small. Don't kill people. Learn to read. Breath a mixture of nitrogen and oxygen instead of a mixture of sand and Coca-Cola.
Most of what are labeled "best practices" are actually merely "good ideas". Others are merely the "best available theory, so far." The rest are, as already mentioned, actually "legally-required practices".
Best? Best for whom? According to whom? Why? In what context?
It's like saying that the world's final warrior was a professional wrestler from the 1980s.
Aug '11
Re: Are "Best Practices," Best?
Arahant,
I am using "best practices" in a more restricted way to refer to a set of administrative rules that a committee of "experts" imposes on the conduct of the institutions of civil society. These are being created daily by the EPA, and the Department of Health and Human Services. They micromanage private activity. They are supposedly justified because it is better to have a small group of expert scientists making decisions about health care rather than 300 million "morons."
Of course no intelligent person would ignore the experts' opinion, but they should only be one factor in making intelligent decisions.
The Rule of Law is not a "best practice" in that sense. It is a first principle of civilized government not a tool for micromanaging decisions.
Accountants need "best practices" so that other people can read and understand their accounting reports.
Mar '11
Re: Are "Best Practices," Best?
cbc:
I am using "best practices" in a more restricted way to refer to a set of administrative rules that a committee of "experts" imposes on the conduct of the institutions of civil society....They are supposedly justified because it is better to have a small group of expert scientists making decisions about health care rather than 300 million "morons."
I agree with you that the imposition of process regulations by small government fiefdoms is highly inefficient and needs to be drastically curtailed.
However, we shouldn't forget that there is also an inherent demand in many private markets not only for expert opinion but also for expert certification, which invariably leads to the establishment of something similar to best practices.
For instance, much of my family works for private secondary schools, which are generally unregulated by the government. For most of these schools, an accreditation by one of the major (private) academic associations is critical for survival, which requires conforming to outside standards and jumping through numerous administrative hoops.
Best practices help homogenize large markets and alleviate information imbalances. As such, they fulfill a useful role, but only if they are not coercive.
Edited on April 26, 2012 at 11:19pmAug '10
Re: Are "Best Practices," Best?
Mendel
However, we shouldn't forget that there is also an inherent demand in many private markets not only for expert opinion but also for expert certification, which invariably leads to the establishment of something similar to best practices.
For instance, much of my family works for private secondary schools, which are generally unregulated by the government. For most of these schools, an accreditation by one of the major (private) academic associations is critical for survival, which requires conforming to outside standards and jumping through numerous administrative hoops.
Best practices help homogenize large markets and alleviate information imbalances. As such, they fulfill a useful role, but only if they are not coercive.
If a practice is truly "best" then why not use coercive enforcement?
After all, if a person cannot recognize that a practice is truly "best", then that person is clearly too incompetent to make their own decisions.
One might complain that my argument is merely semantics. I'd argue that the phrase "best practice" was chosen specifically for the purpose of reducing the possibility of dissent.
After all, what kind of irrational maniac opposes what's "best"?
More: The Sham of Best Practices and Critique of Best Practice.
Mar '11
Re: Are "Best Practices," Best?
Misthiocracy
One might complain that my argument is merely semantics. I'd argue that the phrase "best practice" was chosenspecificallyfor the purpose of reducing thepossibilityof dissent.
Yes, I think your argument is mostly semantics.
In my field (biomedical research), the standards are known as "Good Laboratory Practices", yet are every bit as micromanaging as "best practices" despite making no nominal claim to absolute superiority.
Whenever I have been informed of "best practices" in other fields, there was a general recognition that the term "best practices" refers to "best practices currently available" (which isn't to say that it's not nonetheless a quite presumptuous term).
Edited on April 26, 2012 at 11:49pmAug '10
Re: Are "Best Practices," Best?
Mendel
Misthiocracy
One might complain that my argument is merely semantics. I'd argue that the phrase "best practice" was chosenspecificallyfor the purpose of reducing thepossibilityof dissent.
Yes, I think your argument is mostly semantics.
In my field (biomedical research), the standards are known as "Good Laboratory Practices", yet are every bit as micromanaging as "best practices" despite making no nominal claim to absolute superiority.
I once worked at a corporate/public policy think-tank, which develops "best practices" for governments, NGOs, activists, business, etc.
As far as I'm concerned, it was (and is) merely a marketing slogan for social policy practitioners.
Don't hire the other guys. Hire us. We sell only the "best practices".
It should be up there in the marketing slogan hall of fame with "new and improved", "get your whites their whitest", and "four out of five dentists agree."
Mar '11
Re: Are "Best Practices," Best?
In tech companies "best practices" can ossify into the dreaded WNDITW (We Never Do it That Way) Syndrome, from which recovery is very difficult.
Jul '11
Re: Are "Best Practices," Best?
I just left an exam room with someone I met today. 15 years ago he got metastatic melanoma in the lung, liver and brain. He entered an unusual clinical trial of something not commonly used and over time every lesion shrank and here he still is, cancer free. The odds of his being alive were worse than 1/1000. Best practices would have had him dead long ago.
Jul '11
Re: Are "Best Practices," Best?
Best practices are those procedures you follow unless you have a good reason not to.