Axiomatic practices

At some point you'll either encounter or create an axiomatic practice. Axiomatic means "self-evident truth." "Use source code control" is an axiomatic practice. No one can really argue against it, they may not be doing it, but they know they should.

Axiomatic practices are fine, but they should be avoided when possible. They could indicate that they are too vague and too hard to evolve. Part of the goal here is to improve over time.

Most "best practices" are presented as axiomatic practices. There's no expected context and the implication is that it applies in all circumstances. It's important to read-between-the-lines with these types of practices. Try to figure out what the context might be then compare it to yours. If that's difficult, make sure you evaluate every possible angle.