The Price of Sticking to 'The Way We’ve Always Done It'

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Last month, someone asked me why we follow a particular teaching process in my organization.

My response was immediate:

“That's how we've always done it.”

The words were barely out of my mouth when I realized I had just used the answer I hated hearing the most.

This got me thinking: How many of our "reliable" processes are actually reliable? And more importantly, how many are just comfortable?

The most expensive defaults aren't the ones that clearly fail – they're the ones that work just well enough to stop us from looking for better options.

There’s a Hidden Trap of "Good Enough"

Here's what I've learned about breaking free from organizational autopilot:

Let’s Break "The Way We've Always Done It" Down into Three Levels:

1. The Comfort Default

• "This process is familiar to everyone"

• "It's not broken, so why fix it?"

• "At least we know what to expect"

2. The Legacy Default

• "Important stakeholders set this up"

• "There must have been a good reason for it"

• "We don't want to disrupt what works"

3. The Safety Default

• "This approach is proven"

• "We can't risk trying something new"

• "Better safe than sorry"

Questions That Change Everything

Instead of asking, "Why change?"
Start asking:

• "What problem was this originally solving?"

• "Does that problem still exist in the same way?"

• "If we were building this from scratch today, would we do it this way?"

I've started auditing my own defaults.

Last week, while getting ready for our regular team meeting, I thought it would be fun to have everyone completely reimagine how we conduct the meeting instead! 

The result? 

We cut the meeting time in half and doubled its effectiveness.

Think about it: Every "best practice" started as someone's experiment. Every standard process was once a new idea.

The question isn't whether our current approaches work – it's whether they're the best we can imagine.

POLL

This week, try this:

1. Pick one process you haven't questioned in the last year.

2. Ask three people: "If we were creating this today, knowing what we know now, what would we do differently?"

3. Notice the patterns in their responses.

I'd love to hear about the defaults you're challenging. What "always done it this way" process might need a refresh? Reply and let me know.

Until next week, be easy!
Girvin

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