Do you really need 50 different ways to name variables? Each developer has their favorite way to perform tasks, and almost every gladly agreed to discuss the standards that it uses.
Common templates provide all team members an important basis for cooperation. When each person performs a task in its own way, cooperation can be forgotten. Often the developer is afraid to ask the help of another person, because he can not agree with his approach. And when there is no cooperation, such differences in approach may prevent a common understanding and build knowledge and experience.
Activities for the Quality Control (analysis, review and testing) would bring more benefits and be more productive if the product was made using a common model. Without their use of peer reviewers and testers will simply try to catch problems wherever touched the hand of the developer. Such a haphazard approach to quality control requires more effort and results in poor coverage and weak detection of defects.
General patterns contribute to the improvement of technical work. The developer, performing tasks in their own way, can easily miss important details or information. When work is standardized, there is no question that the work done must include in itself.
Standards should apply in writing test plans, specifications, user interfaces, documentation, training materials and other products, because common vision of how the project should be done, can help to ensure its quality. But along with the standards necessary to determine the situation of their use and to develop guidelines to adapt standards to the needs of the organization, if necessary. Any standard that you are taking, should help you to do their job as best as possible and should not bind your hands.