standard practices
How things are done
Standard practices are the established, widely accepted ways of doing things within a field or profession.
They represent accumulated wisdom about what works—not necessarily the best approach, but the conventional one: Following standard practices will keep you out of trouble with regulators.
The phrase often implies routine competence rather than innovation: We deviated from standard practices when the situation demanded it.
- moral codesStandards of right conduct
- by the bookFollowing established procedures exactly
- unwritten rulesUnstated behavioral expectations
- rule of thumbPractical approximation, not strict
- traditional customsInherited cultural practices
social etiquette · safety procedures · certification requirements · whistleblower protections · shared values · technical specifications · corporate social responsibility · performance metrics · community rituals · tried and true · symbolic gestures · troubleshooting guides · project timelines · going through the motions · due diligence · industry benchmarks · professional ethics · codes of conduct
standard practicesinnovations
New methods or devices
experiments · experimental methods · trial-and-error · beta testing
standard practicesmalpractice
Harmful professional negligence
deviant behavior · violations · noncompliance · misconduct · rule-breaking
standard practicesimprovisation
Spontaneous, unplanned creation
winging it · seat-of-the-pants · workarounds · off-the-cuff · freewheeling
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