Studying Toyota’s
reputation for finding the best ways to do things has been a staple at business
schools. With respect to best
practices, though, Toyota explained to one researcher, “we know that, even if
we design a perfect process, the environment will change around that process in
unknown and unknowable ways.” Best Practices Don’t Matter. Here’s What
Does., The Daily Beat Blog, August 27, 2014. Toyota could very well have been describing a family
business.
Best practices are
not all bad. A best
practice is a method or technique that has been
generally accepted as better than alternatives because it has been shown to
produce results that are superior to those achieved by other means or because
it has become an acceptable way of doing things. Some
families, in search of best practices, are looking for pre-made templates to apply
to their organizations. However, as one leader put it: “…[B]est
practices are a misnomer. Often
what we call best practices were at one point good or smart business moves, but
we seldom do the work to determine how long they stay the ‘best’ or whether
they’re universally applicable.” The Problem With Best Practices, Fast
Company, October 15, 2015. In other words, sometimes what
works as a best practice in one organization is not always applicable to another
business family’s needs. What’s more, needs change over time,
and practices must adapt over time.
Best practices are
better understood as frameworks for thinking about how other family businesses
have been successful. Instead of
something being a “best” practice, it is better be thought of as a smart
practice that successfully addressed certain issues in other family business
contexts. As the saying goes (and
we have observed to be true): when you’ve seen one family business, you’ve seen
one family business. Family
business are unique. It is not
about applying a plug-and-play formula of the same “best practices” to every
family business. The key is
learning from how others have found success, crafting solutions that will best
suit your family business, and adapting those solutions as the business changes
and the family changes.
A family business advisor can be invaluable to this
process. Not only can an adviser
help you understand what practices and frameworks have helped other business
families, but a family business advisor can help you build the right solutions
to drive your family business towards long term success.
Looking for a simple template of best practices that others
have used, and thinking that will be best for your family, is a fool’s
errand. At best, cookie cutter
“[b]est practices don’t make you the best. They make you the average of everyone else who follows
them.” The Problem With Best Practices, Fast Company, October 15, 2015. At worst, misapplied best practices can
foster division and failure. Learn to know the smart practices
other business families are using and, with guidance, implement what will best
fit your family and your business.
It’s not about the best practices for someone else’s business; it’s
about developing the best solutions for your business family.
