Robert D. Behn, faculty at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and author of Performance Leadership, who recently conducted a custom-designed training program for the California Air Resources Board, also publishes a public management newsletter and a particularly provocative issue was the one on “Best Practice” and the public manager’s obsession with them.
The opening quote is:
“If, as Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds”, then “best practice” is the refuge of unimaginative ones. Unfortunately, public managers everywhere are on a manic search for “best practice.”’
Last I heard, the folks managing the Parkway fund raising efforts are currently on a search for best practice for their work.
Very much worth a read.
