The Right People Dissolve Complacency
As I noted in a post a couple of days ago, I had taken a respite from blogging for a few weeks. As I read posts that interested me, I saved them, thinking I would be able to go back and use them as fodder for future posts. One unexpected but interesting byproduct of this practice is linking certain posts together even though the author wrote them many days or weeks apart. Michelle Golden has two such posts that struck a chord with me.
Just two days ago, Michelle wrote "Fly On The Wall #3: 'We Don't Have The Right People.'" Michelle writes that "it's funny but smaller firms tend to find themselves in a cycle of hiring multiple people with similar personality types--whatever it is the hiring persons are most drawn to. And seldom do people in CPA firms seem to hire or retain those who are more aggressive, assertive, confident, whatever... than they are. (I think this is not as prevalent in law or larger firms.)"
The same phenomenon occurs in law firms. While lawyers (at least litigators) are paid professional advocates, they (and this is true for most lawyers) are resistant to change. That's actually an understatement. Experimentation is not in their vocabulary. Any change that does occur can only happen (i) if it is so incremental as to be inconsequential; and (ii) only after the idea has been analyzed to death.
But read this in conjunction with Michelle's "Fear The 'Known' -Dissolve Complacency" post. Michelle writes here that "complacency is something firm leaders despise in their businesses, but it's something that needs much more than short-term plans to correct. Strategic plans, compensation systems, and an annual retreat are helpful tools, but they are not the foundation."
Actually, complacency is something that firm leaders should fear, but most don't--because they are not the right people for that position. Firm leaders in most firms come from the same type of people Michelle writes about in her We Don't Have The Right People post.
In his seminal work Good To Great, Jim Collins writes the importance of having the right people on board the bus, but also about having the right people in the right seats on the bus. It is unlikely a firm populated by partners adverse to change will produce a dissolve-complacency-style leader. Whatever the reason proffered, the fear of change, of the unknown, usually will prevail. Sometimes the stars align for meaningful change, but "once in a month of Sundays" aptly describes the frequency.
This isn't to say that every change is the answer. Some experiments fail. Some change-oriented leaders fail. And some change-oriented people aren't real leaders. But there is certain truth in the apt saying 'nothing ventured, nothing gained.' It is certainty that a good firm will never become great simply by letting time pass.
