Best Practices Often Fall Short

For many leaders, the allure of so-called “industry best practices” is strong and leads to expectations for results that are unrealistic. Why? Executives tend to take the value of best practices as a given. They have an abiding faith in the idea that the most direct route to improved performance is to study what the most successful companies do and copy them.

Best practices certainly do have their benefits. In Bordeaux, France, for instance, many wineries now follow practices recommended to them by winemaking consultants, such as micro.....