Gurteen Knowledge-Letter: Issue 35 - 7th July 2003: The Trouble with Standards
The trouble with standards, according to some old engineering colleagues of mine in the broadcasting business, is that in practice they become both a floor and a ceiling.
David Hawthorne expresses concern over standards in the knowledge business creating barriers to thinking, rather than solid ground on which to build new ideas. This is a familiar argument, somewhat related to the issue of best practices: you need to understand the larger picture when applying standards / best practices.
The full article is about halfway through Gurteen's newsletter.