I keep track of about 20 blogs on a regular basis, two of which are Jeff          De Cagna’s "The Daily Innovator" and Ben Martin’s "Certified Association Executive." I’ve noticed that Jeff and Ben have recently been at odds over the topic of Best Practices, and this morning I stumbled across a good quote about BP from Margaret Wheatley, one of my favorite authors. It comes from her most recent book, Finding Our Way: Leadership for an Uncertain Time.

We need to encourage the creativity that lives throughout the organization, but keep local solutions localized. Too many change efforts fail when an innovation that people have invented in one area of the organization is rolled out through the entire organization. This attempt to replicate success actually destroys local initiative. It denies the creativity of everyone else. All living systems change all the time as they search for solutions. But they never act from some master plan. They tinker in their loal environments, based on their intimate experience with conditions there, and their tinkering results in effective innovation. But only for them.

Information about what others have invented, what has worked elsewhere, can be very helpful to people elsewhere in the organization. These stories spark other’s imagination, they help others become more insightful. However, no premakde model can be imposed on people. The moment they leave home, where they were created, they become inspiration, not solutions. (p. 68).

The discussion of "best practices" sometimes ignores the subtle difference between gathering information about what is being done "out there" and the unspoken conclusion that what is done out there is what SHOULD be done in here. It is possible to explore "best practices" in ways that generate creative local solutions, but I doubt you would call them "best practices" really.