The Problem With Best Practices
Best practices are useful as starting points. They are dangerous as mandates. Here is when to follow them and when to adapt.
"Best practice" is one of the most overused phrases in consulting. It implies that there is a single right way to do something, and that way has been proven by others. Sometimes that is true. Often it is misleading.
When Best Practices Work
Best practices work when the context is genuinely similar. If you are setting up multi-factor authentication, there is a best practice, and you should follow it. If you are structuring a chart of accounts, established conventions save you from reinventing the wheel. For standardized, well-understood processes, best practices are a shortcut to competence.
When Best Practices Fail
Best practices fail when they are applied to situations where the context is different. A best practice for managing inventory in a retail environment does not apply to a build-to-order manufacturer. A best practice for a five-person sales team does not scale to a fifty-person team. Applying them blindly creates processes that look right on paper but do not fit the actual business.
The "It Depends" Problem
The honest answer to most business process questions is "it depends." It depends on your industry, your team, your systems, your customers, and your growth trajectory. A good consultant understands best practices, adapts them to the client's context, and knows when to throw them out entirely.
Our Approach
At Infraxio, we start with proven patterns and adapt them. We bring the frameworks and structures that have worked in similar situations, but we always pressure-test them against the client's reality before committing. If a best practice does not fit, we modify it or build something custom. The outcome matters more than the orthodoxy.