"Best practices" sounds reassuring.
In technology strategy, digital transformation, and AI initiatives, they promise certainty.
Proven frameworks.
Reduced risk.
A shortcut to getting it right.
But in reality, "best practices" are often just someone else's context, packaged as universal guidance.
When applied without adapting them to your organization's knowledge structure and knowledge management strategy, governance model, and mission, they can undermine the very transformation they're meant to support.
Why "Best Practices" Are So Appealing
Growing organizations are under pressure to:
- Scale operations
- Modernize systems
- Adopt AI responsibly
- Improve efficiency
- Strengthen governance
- Get to market faster
In that environment, a slide deck labeled Best Practices feels safe.
It suggests that someone has already figured it out, done their homework, invested time in the research and evaluation process. That there is a right way. That you just need to follow the steps.
But best practices are usually built around:
- A different team structure
- A different funding model
- A different risk profile
- A different organizational culture
- A different decision-making model
Those differences matter more than most people realize.
Context Is Not a Detail – It's the Strategy
Technology strategy is not modular.
You can't separate:
- Governance from culture
- AI from knowledge maturity
- Automation from process clarity
- Platforms from decision rights
What works beautifully in a VC-backed SaaS company may create chaos in a nonprofit. What scales in a centralized organization may fracture a federated one. What succeeds in a highly regulated environment may stall a fast-moving startup.
Without context, "best practices" become templates. And templates don't think.
The Hidden Cost of Copy-Paste Strategy
When organizations adopt frameworks without adapting them, several things tend to happen:
- Tools get implemented without ownership clarity.
- Documentation increases, but decision-making doesn't improve.
AI gets layered on top of disorganized knowledge – without real AI readiness or governance clarity.
- Teams feel change fatigue without seeing meaningful progress.
- Governance becomes reactive instead of intentional.
On paper, everything looks aligned with industry standards. In practice, friction increases.
A Better Approach: Context-Driven Strategy
Instead of asking: "What are best practices in our industry?"
Start with:
- How does our organization actually make decisions?
- Where does our institutional knowledge live?
- Who owns what – and is that ownership clear?
- What risks matter most to us?
- What constraints shape our reality?
- What does "scaling well" mean in our mission context?
Only after those answers are clear does it make sense to evaluate external models.
This is often the kind of strategic alignment we support through our fractional CIO leadership engagements.
Best practices can be useful inputs.
They should never replace internal clarity.
Mission First. Knowledge First. Then Tools.
At FireOak, we don't reject best practices.
We reinterpret them.
We treat them as reference points – not prescriptions.
Because technology should enable your mission, not reshape it unintentionally.
And governance should reflect your organization's values – not just industry trends.
When context leads, tools support.
When templates lead, teams adapt in ways they shouldn't have to.
Clarity comes before optimization.
Always.
