Best Practices

A generally accepted set of guidelines that lay out the proper way to perform some task or achieve some goal. A consensus usually forms within an industry about the best way to do something. This consensus becomes known as the "best practice."

Sometimes, the details of a best practice can get dictated by some governing body, either by an industry group or by a regulatory authority. It can also just exist as an accepted common knowledge within an sector.

The idea of a "best practice" can occasionally backfire. Once a procedure is set in stone (especially once some authority has made it mandatory), it becomes difficult to update as industry conditions change.

For instance, for a long time, the best practice in the medical field was to bleed a patient in order to cure disease. This is what killed George Washington. The procedure steadily faded as a go-to treatment as medicine advanced in the 19th century, and into the 20th century. Still, bloodletting was being recommended in some textbooks as late as the 1920s.

So ask yourself: What do I best like to practice? Send us your answers. We'll tweet 'em.