The term “best practices” has become a management buzzword, and it means a specific approach toward a particular field – for example, software development – that is thought of as the best way to do something.
In the rest of life, we are exposed to lots of ideas about what are the best ways to do things, but most often, there is significant variation in what constitutes “best.” What’s the “best” way to raise a child, for example, or to govern a country? Lots of different opinions; aren’t there?
Raising fruits and vegetables might be less controversial because horticulture is more scientific, but, no doubt, there are gardeners who have individual ideas about what is “best.”
How do you choose from among differing points of view that hold themselves out to be “the best”? Since we have to decide what is “best” from a myriad of choices, what are the “best” criteria or processes by which we make those determinations? What degree of usefulness do you consider the notion of best practices to have?