ARE BEST PRACTICES REALLY THE BEST?

We do an awful lot of reading of press releases in which various states or localities (or frequently an outside public relations firm) refers to some initiative as a “best practice.”

Typically, if we write about the topic, we substitute in other phrasing, like a “practice that works,” or an “evidence-based approach,” (if it is). Of course, when we’re quoting from a study or a report we’re stuck with the phrase “best practice,” as we don’t change direct quotes to suit ourselves.

There may be cases in which so-called best practices can apply from city to city and state to state. Best budgeting practices can certainly be useful. It’s an accepted best practice in budgeting, for example, that entities should cover current year expenditures with current year revenues -- not revenues borrowed from the future.

Before we go on, it seems worthwhile for us to provide our own definition of "best practice." Others may disagree, but it's the way the words sound to us. We believe that the phrase should be used to describe management policies that can be applied pretty much universally. Best practices, we'd argue, should be something like plug and play models that others can pick up and use with a solid assurance of success.

But that's often not the way the words are used. For example, the latest glittery idea that seems appealing (but has only been proven as worthwhile in a smattering of places) can often be dubbed as best. People writing reports for any number of significant organizations will take the study of a handful of cities or states and list approaches they’ve uncovered as “best.” Not to seem cynical, but we've noticed that often the words "best practice" are used in consulting firms to sell their own approaches.

For years, it was considered a best practice that states set aside exactly 5 percent of revenues in their rainy day funds. No more. No less. When we researched the topic, we discovered that precise number emanated from an off-the-cuff comment in a speech given by a leader in one of the ratings agencies. As years have passed, thinking on the topic has grown more sophisticated. The Volcker Alliance, for example, threw that 5 percent figure out the window and encourages states to tie their reserve funding to the volatility of revenues.

Here are five reasons we are concerned when a best practice is ballyhooed by a government official.

1) Ideas that work in rural areas often don't apply well to densely populated cities.

 2) Approaches for homogeneous regions may leave out elements important in places with greater diversity.

 3) Things that work well in healthy economic times may need to be forgotten in the depths of a recession.

 4) Changing times generally require new solutions. For example, distancing behavior in the depths of the pandemic was considered the best practice.  Now it might be seen as unfriendly unless there are good health reasons to maintain distance.

 5) The label is too often applied before a notion has been properly evaluated and proven to be generally workable.

We don’t think this is all a matter of semantics. When a practice is labeled as the “best,” that can easily stand in the way of the evolution of thinking that’s necessary for progress in states, cities and counties. If we know the best way to do something, then why look for a better way? And the search for better functioning government is the core of what we do for a living.

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