Unlocking and aligning commercial impact in product & design orgs | Advisor & Mentor | Putting the soft back in software
There’s no such thing as a “one-size-fits-all” best practice. We hear the phrase “best practices” a lot in business: the silver bullets, the playbooks, the frameworks that promise success. But here’s the reality: best practices aren’t universal. What works for one team, one company, or one context might fall completely flat somewhere else. A strategy that helps a startup scale can bog down a mature organization. A workflow perfect for a small, scrappy team might overwhelm a large, complex one. Even the most celebrated advice needs to be stress-tested against your unique people, goals, and environment. Instead of defaulting to “best practices,” ask these questions: - Does this approach align with our specific challenges and strengths? - Will it empower the people doing the work, or create friction? - How can we adapt it to fit our culture and goals? Best practices can be a great starting point, but they’re not a shortcut. The best solutions are the ones tailored to your team’s reality. That’s where creativity, critical thinking, and real leadership come in. Make sure. as a team you're invested in and focusing on what you're trying to achieve. Curious to hear—what’s a "best practice" you’ve had to adapt (or throw out entirely) to make it work?
