In reply to Ben.

Thanks, Ben. I never really considered this a training blog, but I digress ;)

The point of the New Yorker article, I believe, is that one cannot only look at what others are doing but must push at the envelope of knowledge & practice. I like this definition by David Shaffer; "A professional is anyone who does work that cannot be standardized easily and who continuously welcomes challenges at the cutting edge of his or her expertise." The same goes for professional organizations, in my opinion. Non-standardized work doesn't tend to best practices, but there is still a need for high expectations of the results of the work.

The radical concept is that Best Practices just don't cut it because they cannot be copied but must be understood and then adapted, if possible, for a different context. Best Practices only translate directly for simple tasks: http://jarche.com/2010/07/managing-in-complexity/