Standards. The word brings up thoughts of rules, regulations, and inflexibility.

We need standards though. They can bring fairness. Think rules in a game. They can bring consistency. Think your favorite ice cream. They can help us behave. Think norms for a meeting.

However, they can be used for evil. Standards can be unfair. Think no returns on a broken product. They can be impractical. Think due dates that cause unsafe work. They can be wrong. Think bureaucratic red tape around trial drugs for terminal disease.

Standards. They bring up good and bad but we need them. They set expectations and give us guardrails. They can hold groups of people together and keep them civil. They can keep people from cutting corners. We need standards.

But we also need wisdom and discernment.

Standards need regular review and updates.

Standards need give, they’re not granite.

Standards should include listening.

Standards should be thrown away when they’re past due.

Standards should always help, never hurt.

Standards. They’re useful and needed, just take caution and use responsibly.

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