An oldy, but a goody, one that I haven’t seen before.
One comment I saw recently was “it means ‘practices of the best’” - as in “the things that the best software developers/consultants do”.
I don’t find that argument particularly persuasive. For several reasons:
- No one knows who the very “best” software developer is.
- No one even knows who the very best software developer is, in a particular practice area.
- Even if we could magically discern who the best software developer was, it is very likely that:
- Her approach would be highly tuned to the specific company/organization she was with
- She would have a hard time elaborating and generalizing her approach without diluting its effectiveness
- Others would point at this poor developer and say “She is only an expert on Y in situation X, but we are in situation Z”
So while I think it is an interesting concept (practices of the best), I can’t acept that interpretation as being any more valid than “the best way to solve this problem”.