Thoughtful questions > best practices
Sometimes the best way to build your early ops is to have more questions than answers
“Organizational learning should be an ongoing activity, but best practices imply it has reached an endpoint.”- Adam Grant. Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know.
Not all formulaic, buzzy, practices outlined in papers will fit your organization, even if the most successful startups you admire have followed those rules. Best practices are statements rooted in time that apply to a specific set of circumstances with nuanced context and inputs.
That doesn’t mean you can’t start there, or test best practices; no need to reinvent the wheel and develop practices when there are seasoned practitioners who pushed and persevered their way to the other side so you don’t have to. But asking thoughtful questions before blind implementation can help you ensure the practice is best for your org before you actually get to building, and ensures that you create space to implement best practices of your very own.
how DO you leverage established methodologies to build your operations while right-sizing them for your organization?
Ask questions and align context to cultivate your unique operating system.
Why This & Why Now
Best practices are only best in theory. Assessing whether a best practice is best for your startup comes from asking key questions to pull context clues to help you decide which past processes to try, and which to reject based on your unique set of circumstances.
"Today’s ‘best practices’ lead to dead ends; the best paths are new and untried." - Peter Thiel. Zero to One.
how We Do: Establish a framework and culture of inquisitiveness
As you stumble upon a best practice you’re interested in implementing across your operations, consider asking a few of these questions in each core area of internal product management before reaching a final decision.
Tools 🛠️
Am I choosing this tool because it’s the best for my needs and the needs of my team, or am I choosing this because it’s the one everyone else uses?
Is this tool a bandaid to a process problem?
Is this tool a bandaid to a people problem?
Does this tool solve a problem now while providing space for my team to grow in the future?
Is there someone willing and able to invest the time to really understand how to use this tool effectively, or will we only scratch the surface? Will that be enough?
Does the tool offer sufficient customer support?
Are there any redundancies between this tool and others we already use?
Rules (Process) 📝
Are we implementing a process that actually fits our people, how they behave, what they value, and how they’re willing to show up?
Is this process too heavy (or light) for our stage and size? Can we risk it potentially slowing us down?
Are we really willing to give this process a try? Do we have the space to thoughtfully design it, implement it across teams, use it with a >90% adoption rate, document clear metrics on how it’s being used, and make space to ensure we’re analyzing whether or not it’s been effective?
Is this process problem possibly a communication problem?
People 🫶
Do we understand our people, and how they’ll react to change?
Do we understand what motivates our team? How do we incentivize them to do their best work?
Are we able to take the time to communicate operational structures and changes to our team in thoughtful ways?
Are we implementing solutions that solve their problems?
Before you go
Approaching best practices with a blend of humility and strategic thinking is crucial for startups navigating their unique paths to growth. By critically evaluating the applicability of these practices within their specific context from a holistic perspective, startups not only adapt valuable insights but also innovate, contributing to the entrepreneurial knowledge ecosystem. This process encourages a culture of continuous learning, where questioning and adaptation become key drivers of success. Asking questions rather than blindly accepting answers allows startup teams to forge their own best practices, demonstrating the power of humility and ambition in the face of ever-evolving challenges.
Writer: Britt