The Next Best Practice

Have you considered that the work you're doing at this very moment, the systems you're building or tweaking, the ideas that you're conceiving and developing a strategy around could very well be next season's best practice? Imagine it! You... Cultivating an idea or a process that will help many other people... What a wonderful reality.

Business is ever-evolving. We currently stand on the shoulders of those who came before us. Let's pause. Consider them. What have we received from these women and men who influenced our lives today? I don't know about you, but I find it difficult to avoid gratitude as I process through it. Their work made it possible for us to arrive here. Incredible.

Like them, today we're doing our best. We're taking the next step, trusting that the outcome of our work will carry the vision forward and find our hopes realized. Let's take another pause. What does your picture of a fulfilled vision look like? Jot down a few of the ideas or descriptions that come to mind.

Now I want you to consider how YOU accomplish the tasks needed to see your picture come clearly into view. No one else can achieve this vision the same way you can. Consider the people you work alongside. What they bring to the table is equally as important. The way they will achieve the vision is unique and necessary. Collaboration takes us so much farther than going it alone, after all. The picture becomes more robust and gains depth. 

Take another pause. What are you or your team members doing today that's working well for you? Consider where you learned it. Consider what you've added to it or adjusted in the process. What insights have you gained? Let's mine and find the gold! 

There's a sweetness in uncovering new best practices. First, it helps us to appreciate the beauty in the 'blur.' We recognize that our lack of clarity actually acts as a catalyst for an unfolding discovery process where we adapt and create. Second, it keeps us humble. We become mindful that, just like those who came before us, our best practice will likely be tweaked or become obsolete as new generations of men and women take their positions in the marketplace. Third, our experience gives us wisdom to offer. We get to platform, encourage and equip those who will lead in the next season.

What an amazing cycle. We receive, we learn, we create and we give back. When I imagine the honor and generosity we show throughout it, I see enormous problems being solved, collaboration replacing competition and a whole lot of enjoyment in our work replacing the sense of tediousness existing in our ongoing task lists. So hey, let's get back to it. I look forward to learning from you as you develop the next best practice!