Everyone wants to use best practices. But how do you identify the best practices for your situation?

Tom Brakke of The Investment Ecosystem blog shares a simple exercise that you can do. In “Common Practices, Best Practices, and Next Practices,” he suggests that you ask, “How would you describe what you do in comparison to the standards that are prevalent across the industry in like positions and situations?”

You can organize your responses into three columns:

Common practices Best practices Next practices

I like the simplicity of the three columns.

I also like the idea of striving for “next practices.” Brakke says,

Innovative organizations are constantly working to improve their methods. Identifying next practices and working toward them (while knowing that some won’t come to fruition) is part of their DNA.

Brakke publishes free e-newsletters so you can receive his ideas in your inbox.

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Keep reading this article on Investment Writing, Susan B. Weiner - Blog.