Best practices are rarely the best — they're mostly just cargo cult common practices.
And as more people adopt them, the more mediocre they become.
The best is usually what most people aren't willing to do.
Best practices are rarely the best — they're mostly just cargo cult common practices. And as more people adopt them, the more mediocre they become. The best is usually what most people aren't willing to do.
So in this post I’m going to reject the commonly accepted wisdom and look at why specializing is hard, why it fails and what an alternative path looks like. The answer lies in developing strong opinions and a distinctive vibe.
tomcritchlow.com • Rejecting Specialization
Julia Evans once said "behind every best practice is a horror story." If you don't understand a Best Practice, look for the horror story that inspired it. It might make the best practice make sense. It might turn out to be something that's completely irrelevant to you, and then you can feel comfortable doing a different practice instead.
Dec. 19 • Advice for new software devs who've read all those other advice essays
“If you never copy best practices, you’ll have to repeat all the mistakes yourself.
If you only copy best practices, you’ll always be one step behind the leaders.”
If you only copy best practices, you’ll always be one step behind the leaders.”
James Clear • 3-2-1: On copying best practices, being underestimated, and the difficulty of change | James Clear
"Today’s “best practices” lead to dead ends; the best paths are new and untried."