At an increasing number of faculty congregations of all types around MIT I hear this phrase "best practices." Googling this phrase doesn't reveal its origins. Yahooing it doesn't seem to do any better. It's a favorite phrase to use to describe the best best things in the business world. Seems that invoking the phrase "best practice" makes anything uttered in said context invincible, and cannot be contested by any means. Why? Because its the "best." But who said it was the best? I find that the answer to this question is that it's best not to ask the question.
Another "best practice" in naming of best things is "best in class." I don't hear that one in academia so much. Maybe its because we have classes at the core of our operation here, and would find it confusing to use such a phrase (although I understand the use of "class" is different). Yet another is "best in breed." That one is kind of icky to me.
A certain colleague of mine refers to their research endeavors with a unique intensity and passion. They refer to a maniacal means to achieve their vision as only possible with a "Manhattan Project-style approach" of gathering the best minds in the field to work towards a singular goal. Upon hearing such a statement on two occasions, I am drawn to raising my eyebrow and think to myself, "In the field of science, is the Manhattan Project a kind of 'best practice' for achieving a desired goal?" And then I realized the answer is, well, "Yes" in that person's mind, and if not just him, there are likely others.
Not long ago, there were living guardians of the mindset that the Manhattan Project might have been a great scientific achievement, but it was a terrible blow to humanity. Jerome Wiesner, the former MIT president that co-founded the Media Lab and who actually worked on the Manhattan Project, felt this way. Many of his generation are now gone.
Certainly there are great things that have happened due to great progress in science. However if there is no reflection, there is advancement that is not only ill-informed but is ultimately deadly to the human race. In the back of my mind, I pray that my colleague, and others that think like him, wonder like me, how it would feel to be on the receiving end of a nuclear weapon or any other "best practice." "Best" is best when it means something good. Let's keep it that way. It's definitely for the best.
Posted by maeda at March 16, 2006 09:07 PM