In an interview with Dr. Michael Gervais (mastery expert and podcaster), Missy Testerman, the 2024 USA Teacher of the Year advised that “great teachers don’t raise kids; they raise adults”. It’s a subtle but important distinction, speaking to a series of actions geared towards a specific future intent. It’s what author Stephen Covey called, “Beginning with the end in mind”.
Too often, when I see law firm executives make a decision, it’s based on precedent, or old belief systems, or what everyone else is doing right now, or on what’s easiest at that moment in time. More than any other motivator, this last one is the most common. In running their business, Partners prefer the path of least resistance (which is why trouble-maker Partners tend to de facto run most law firms).
Business decisions should indeed be made for that moment, but they should be based on an envisioned, desired future. Several posts ago, I told you about the design of a new sports arena where the owner planned for one toilet for every 15 people (instead the 1/80 industry standard) to ensure that patrons spend no more than two minutes out of the stands. That’s long-term planning! But I personally witnessed a more immediate example of goal-based decision making this summer. My husband and I were boating with some family friends. The young son and his father were feeling sea sick but we hadn’t started fishing yet. We asked if they wanted to fish or turn for home. The father asked “that depends…what’s the goal here? Is it to fish, or have fun?” Of course, we turned the boat around and headed for home.
But where goal-based decision making really comes in handy is where we have a longer-term vision that we consistently work toward. Take the US republican party which has been positioning judges and local community reps for years. Or China, investing in countries with rare earth and other important resources. This is what long-term strategic planning is all about: having a vision for the future and then slowly but determinedly working toward that vision.
It is very difficult to set vision when you are in the midst of dealing with a crisis. Strategic planning is something that should be done when decisions aren’t urgent and more rational minds prevail. When a law firm has a vision for their business, it can better predict and even set up processes and solutions for various potential issues. But at the very least, it’s easier to make decisions in the moment when you have a strategic plan in place because it will be obvious which actions will support that vision, and which actions will work against that vision.
In my experience, lawyers can tend to feel they are good at quick decisions because they are intelligent, and because they can make quick decisions when need be on legal issues for their clients. But unlike the practice of law, law firm management is not a core competency of most lawyers. And in my experience, they tend to predominantly factor in the elements I listed above, rather than what might be best for the firm in the long-term.
The best way to avoid this is to have a strategic plan in place. But failing that, don’t just consider what is best for the firm in the short-term; consider the long-term as well. The solution will be a harder sell than the least painful immediate decision. But remember: you’re not raising kids, you’re raising adults.
Heather Gray-Grant is a business strategist, marketing expert and executive coach for law firms, lawyers and administrators. She can be reached at heather@heathergraygrant.com