The IT Skeptic - Comments for "When Best is Too Good - Copper Instead of Gold - focused excellence as a differentiator"

I'm all for defining best

skeptic — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 20:45:00 +0000

I'm all for defining best practice.

But making the assumption you do, that everyone will eventually "grow up" and mature to BP, is the very thing I want to avoid. There's nothing WRONG with CoPr. Not everyone WANTS to be a millionaire. NOt evryone WANTS to be an Olympic champion. Youi have to spend a lot and give up a lot to get there. It is a sound personal choice to say "I choose not to compete". I choose not to have a house out of "Better Homes and Gardens"...

Moreover, it is not a decision one makes at the organisational level. I'm at pains to point out that the choice is made at a more granular level.

My Dad's dentist operated out of a horrible little flatroof stucco building that would be unattractive as a low-income house. But Dad said he was a good dentist. he had all the best equipment in there.

Probably Toyoya do their toilet sanitation to best practice and their cafeteria to best practice - it wouldn't surprise me. But not every winner does best practice in everything. A million organisations are NOT Toyota. We needn't aspire to be the poster child of best practice unless there is a sound economic (usually competitive) reason to do so.

Appropriate

Alex — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 20:06:15 +0000

World-Class, Best Practice, these terms often do more harm than good, I personally use the terms "Fit For Purpose" or "Appropriate Practice", similar to you CoPr these seem to lend them selves well to describing a method of working where we manage to real, useful business goals.

BUT

It is important to understand what is possible, the benefit of knowing what Best Practice or World Class looks like is often in raising the bar, many times explaining that something can and has been done elsewhere knocks down some barriers to change even if we don't intend to reach that goal.

Also timing can play a part in this, as you mentioned over time we try to get more mature, It may not be a current goal, but most start-ups would at some point like to be a Toyota or Cisco (or Amazon for that matter), and when they are they will almost certainly have world class, best practices to manage their operations.

forgot something

buraddo — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 16:32:19 +0000

I don't want to define "Best Practice" or "CoPr"..

Again the reason I like CMM frameworks is they focus (generally) on capabilities and not implementations. What can you do, not how are you doing it..

Brad Vaughan

still binary

buraddo — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 16:25:05 +0000

You still mention some need "CoPr" and some need "Best Practice". I would say you need the "Practice" that fits your needs and "Practice" can be defined on a near infinitely scale, but if needed the maturity models usually work to about a 4 or 5 tier system to make it somewhat practice to deliver.

By saying "CoPr" or "Best Practice" you might be undershooting or overshooting your needs. What I like about ITIL is the definition of a framework or perhaps a methodology without the pretention of a level of practice (if you eliminate all concepts of certification). Doesn't "Best Practice" and "CoPr" lead you down the wriggly path of certification.

I thought the original concept is if you want "Best Practice" or some level of certification, then you can always do an audit against ISO or some other such mechanism.

$0.02

Brad Vaughan

a positive alternative

skeptic — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 15:49:49 +0000

I challenge you to define Best Practice in any quantitative fashion with any level of broad applicability.

In some places we need "Best" and in some places "CoPr". Exactly my position too. Don't default to best practice for everything. Save “best” for focused areas where it counts. Add gold only where it pays off.

In your dieting analogy, there is clearly a dereliction of responsibility if one allows oneself to become overweight: there are negative consequences. I'm saying it should be respectable to say "we have lowered our risks to acceptable levels and met our compliance commitments and have sufficient functionality to operate the business. We strategically choose to do no more". CoPr is not a lack of Best Practice, it is a positive (and cheaper) alternative.

Yes this equates to a lower (or even zero) maturity, but framing it in those terms is pejorative. One could better say it equates to a higher efficiency of resource allocation.

why a binary decision

buraddo — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 13:43:59 +0000

Why does it have to be Best or CoPr ?

With maturity models, continuous improvement and other concepts, why can't process be adopted which suits each organizations specific needs. In some places they need "Best" and in some places "CoPr".

I challenge you to define CoPr in any quantitative fashion with any level of broad applicability. You might end up creating just another level of "Best" practice which is inflexible in the context of the broad range of organization situations. Even within the use cases you state, there are a infinite range of diversity of circumstance.

Practice in the area of business process is sort of like dieting. Which diet is best for which individuals lifestyle, metabolism, and mental state. How much is our ideal weight ? Maybe a BMI measurement, but the BMI for asian person, vs a Latin person vs. a anglo-European (not sure if thats what you call the rest). We all know we need to eat less and exercise more (ITIL version is reduce cost, improve quality, improve speed), but execution is really personal. There are no wonder diets or magical recipes for success (Best Practice). Of course in this example, consultants are the personal trainer/dietitian...

Brad Vaughan