Standards are good, but the great triumph of standards in the modern world is almost entirely the success of standard interfaces. A standard for a screw thread or an AA battery says a lot about the final product - how it interfaces with its corresponding parts – but nothing about the process for building that product. To extrapolate from the success of interface standards to the need for process standards is a bit of a stretch.
Identifying an ideal practice is a useful endeavour. But the programs that mandate such a practice are something else entirely.
Standards are seen to embody best practices. But they become institutionalised, revered by some and loathed by others, as systematic indoctrination occurs. Everyone is expected, if not forced, to conform without question or face sanction because adherence to documented standards is seen as a sign of maturity. The very term 'best practices' implies that the practices cannot be bettered. We're schooled to think that there's one right answer. There's not, there are many right answers. And there's no such thing as a best practice. We need to rediscover our innate childlike curiosity and learn to question everything, continuously. Process standardisation without continuous inspection and improvement breeds conformity of thought and that suppresses innovation.
Toyota uses standardised processes to communicate the current best known way of working. Their standards exist to be questioned by the people doing the work and provide a baseline for change. Everyone is expected to eliminate waste from their jobs and continuously seek better ways of working. Through experimentation innovation happens and people devise new standards. There is a relentless pursuit of perfection.
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