You don’t have to go far on the Internet to hear someone say “There’s no such thing as best practice!”
Don’t believe me? Just make a comment about “best practice” on any social media, and someone is bound to pop up and tell you how you’re mistaken.
The main argument against the idea of “best practice” is usually along the lines that no single practice is ever best in all situations.
And of course, I agree with that.
The problem is, nobody ever means “universally applicable best practice” when they say “best practice.” Rather, they mean “best practice for my particular situation.”
And there certainly are contextual best practices.
A secondary argument against the idea of “best practice” is that it may stiffle innovation.
This is also true.
However, innovation isn’t always desirable. Often the best thing for the situation is some method or technique that has been generally accepted as superior to known alternatives. That is, by definition, “best practice”.
Best practice is a convenient shortcut to solving well-understood problems. And when your problem is well understood, applying best practice is generally a good first step.
