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Anytime I have an issue with a product that is supported online or by phone, I have to reserve a block of time, usually a minimum of thirty minutes, to try to resolve the issue. My normal experience is to call or chat with a first level of support that, generally, can solve few problems. Eventually I am elevated to a second level that can solve more problems and, sometimes, even to a third level or a manager. The whole process usually takes considerable time, a large part of which is spent waiting.
Sadly, this approach to customer support seems to be ubiquitous and is viewed as a best practice, meaning that it is, in the opinion of the service provider, the cheapest way to provide customer service. While this might be true for service providers, what about the customers who experience angst with this so-called best practice? But more important, why do companies think that delivering a frustrating customer service experience is a best practice?
The term best practice means a practice that maximizes profit for the service provider, since business profit is the primary consideration.
Best practices are generally gleaned by studying organizations that are considered to be most successful at producing business profit. Most business literature is a study of these organizations with the goal of extracting the practices that facilitate financial success.
One could characterize this approach to business by the term “rational empirical pragmatism.” It is rational in that we use human reasoning to develop an understanding of these practices. It is empirical because we gather the requisite data or facts from the study of organizations by using sense perception. And it is pragmatic in that the goal is to find the practices that work the best in producing what is valued the most—profit.
Rational empirical pragmatism uses inductive reasoning rooted in the study of general revelation, that is, the natural world. There is little or no consideration of principles deduced from special revelation, that is, Scripture (the Bible).
A Christian worldview combines the two approaches. Best practices are, first and foremost, deductively gleaned from Scripture and, secondarily, inductively gleaned from general revelation. Furthermore, a Christian worldview requires the latter to be congruent with the former. This approach to best practices yields best practices consistent with Scripture. Furthermore since Scripture defines success as obedience to God (John 17:4), this means that the seminal biblical criterion for defining best practices is not profit but alignment with the will and ways of God.
Such a standard is foreign to most people in the workplace, even to professing Christians, many of whom would claim to embrace a Christian worldview.
Instead of alignment with God as the seminal criterion, most prefer the homo mensura (Latin for “man the measure”) approach. This means that best practices are not required to be aligned with Scripture but rather they are aligned with man’s opinion as to what is best. And man generally believes that whatever maximizes profit is best. Therefore in the homo mensura approach, man, not God, is the measure for determining best practices.
However, if God created man and the natural world, how can a created being trump the Creator and assume the right to define best practices? This is an audacious assumption. Clearly, if you believe that the God of the Bible is the Creator of the Universe, then He alone has the right to define best practices.
If you concede this point, then what are some examples of best practices for business as defined by the Creator?
May I offer a few for your consideration that are significantly different from commonly accepted best practices?
1. The handbook for business. Business wisdom embraced by most people today is based on case studies. Pundits find companies that are deemed to be successful, which usually means they are more profitable than their peers. The pundits then study these companies to extract the practices that facilitate their success. The moniker best practices is attached to practices that seem to facilitate the perceived success. From a Christian worldview, Scripture, not case studies, is the primary authority for developing best practices (2 Timothy 3:16–17). Consequently, the Bible is the handbook for business and the starting point for guidance on any issue. This means that case studies (empirical studies) should be interpreted congruent with Scripture. Biblically, this is the only way to develop sound best practices. In other words, true best practices are biblical best practices—practices that facilitate alignment with the will and ways of God.
2. The philosophy of business. Every business has a philosophical foundation, that is, a basis for seeing reality from which decisions are made. Today a pedestrian best practice is to make decisions that are culturally popular. Consequently, many times businesses don’t take ethical positions that are unpopular because such a position could be detrimental to the profit objectives of the business. A Christian philosophy of business is based on alignment with the ethical standards gleaned from Scripture. Profit must, therefore, be subordinated to obedience to biblical standards. (See Gleanings for July 2015.)
3. The strategy for customer service. As noted in the introduction of this article, the commonly accepted best practice for customer service is to minimize cost, which tends to produce a poor customer service experience. Scripture states that building a great reputation is more important than money (Proverbs 22:1). Therefore from a Christian worldview, customer service should focus on delivering an efficient, efficacious problem-solving experience for the customer that will please the customer and develop an excellent reputation for the service provider.
These are common examples of how best practices based on homo mensura differ from biblically defined best practices.
Since the fall of man (Genesis 3), mankind using homo mensura has been proned to assume the authority to define the best practices of business. By nature, mankind is in rebellion against the Creator and therefore does not seek to discern biblical best practices. Consequently, service providers today seek best practices that maximize profit with little to no regard for the will and ways of the Creator.
If you agree that God alone has the authority to define the best practices of business, then mankind must submit to God’s definitions, that is, to biblical standards. This means that Scripture must be the defining guide for business wisdom. Whatever mankind deems to be wise must then be submitted to biblical scrutiny. If it passes the test, then it can—and should be—embraced as biblical best practices, the only true best practices.
May the Lord give us grace to repent from the arrogance of using homo mensura to define best practices. May the Lord grant us grace to embrace the truth that He alone is the definer of best practices. And may the Lord grant us grace to faithfully conduct business based on biblical best practices.
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