A number of years ago I decided to clean the cathedral ceiling in my home. The ceiling was textured and very high up off the floor. I decided that it would be ideal to bring my leaf-blower into the house and use it to blow the gunk off the ceiling. It worked amazingly well; my ceiling was clean, undamaged and pristine in the space of a few minutes. Unfortunately the Law of Unintended Consequences was alive and well (also known as Murphys Law), and my carpets were ruined. Best practices are the strategies we employ to avoid or minimize unintended consequences. A best practice would have told me to make sure the dog was out of the house before using powered garden tools in the living room.
It turns out that a badly startled dog traveling at high-velocity can stain a lot of carpeting in a short space of time. In addition to needing to rent major time with a Rug Doctor, I also had to cope with a dog that was never quite right after that.
So, we see that Best Practices are the result of lessons learned in actual practice. Best Practices help us avoid unforeseen and unintended consequences that can turn our SharePoint projects into failures. We’ve all been blindsided at one time or another, and it isn’t fun. Just ask Sammy Dog. But please ask him quietly and in a friendly voice as I just returned the Rug Doctor.
When you attend the SharePoint Best Practices Conference in San Diego in February, you will be rubbing elbows with people who have successfully designed, implemented, maintained and governed SharePoint in a wide variety of circumstances. It is time and money well spent.
I hope to see you there….
SharePoint Best Practices Conference
February 2-4
San Diego, California
www.sharepointbestpractices.com
© 2008, Mark Ragar Schneider, All Rights Reserved
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