The "Best Way" Argument - More than one solution to a problem

Often times I work walk into technical discussions at all levels with technical professionals that invariably boils down to what I call the "best way" argument. Each of the parties involved agree that a problem can be handled in a variety of ways and then they spend a lot of time arguing among one another on which has the most elegant, fast, efficient, pattern/anti-pattern consistent, IEEE-approved, PHD-level elegant, pick-a-buzz-word-of-the-month-technology approach. To let you in on a little secret, these types of arguments are as frustrating to see and experience being on the technical side as much as it is for business personnel.

Almost anyone who has been in the industry a while knows that these types of arguments are from an intellectual level very fun. Lots of learning going on. However, an equally important and more tangible benefit is actually solving the problem. Many of today's terminologies and approaches are actually rooted in concepts taught and applied from the 60s. That is not to say that there have not been any new insights, rather that the vast majority of the arguments are essentially "chewing old soup" in their own way. Technical professionals fall into habits that they are comfortable with formed from years or decades of practically applying their craft. In many cases, what they do is so second nature that they have longed stopped caring about what their approach is being called in the current marketplace. 

The most frustrating part of the "best way" argument is how often experience bias creeps into solution delivery. For example, Oracle database professionals often espouse how everything can be handled by the database, PL/SQL, procedures, triggers, etc. Similarly, Java professionals mention how Java technology can be used for back-end work, database integrations, file operations, etc. It is both humorous and tragic to see how often arguments "best way" quickly devolves into battles among technologies rather than actually solving a problem.

Truly talented teams of professionals remember that their habits are based on a foundation of knowledge from a wide variety of experience that cannot be acquired simply by reading a book. They adapt, change, learn and apply different solutions and mixtures of tools based on the situation at hand. They work together blending their experiences together, taking the best approaches regardless of the tools,  to create a solution that works. 

It is up to the leaders of technical professionals to create an atmosphere of cooperation and collaboration, rather than one-upmanship among their teams. Otherwise the "best way" arguments take on lives of their own affecting the morale, efficiency and deliverables from the teams which ultimately impact an organization's ability to compete in a ever-changing and highly-competitive landscape.