The LMA Midwest at Chicago’s upcoming Think Tank Live! program (February 19, 2015) will focus on implementing organizational strategies, while putting out fires. To get our wheels turning in advance of the event, presenters Amber Bollman (pictured, top), marketing manager at Bryan Cave, and Deborah Knupp (pictured, below), founder of Akina, discussed a few questions on the topic. LMA Midwest members, check your email for information on how to register for the event!
Amber: In advance of our Think Tank next month, what would you like participants to start thinking about now? What should they start noticing within their own firms or organizations?
Deb: A great way to think about strategy is to think about your answers to following questions:
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What does it mean to you to “be more strategic”?
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What does it look like when you are at your best as a strategic leader?
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What is the mission/purpose of your marketing strategy/efforts?
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What is the vision you have to help your firm be successful?
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What does it look like when your strategy and efforts are working?
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What role(s) do you aspire to have to as a strategic leader?
Amber: I have found “strategy” to be an intimidating word because it sounds so grandiose and visionary. When discussing strategy, I often feel this pressure to assemble a very comprehensive master plan, with every circumstance accounted for and detailed goals and metrics along the way. That seems daunting, and as a result, it’s easy to abandon the whole effort and not develop a strategy at all. Is that a challenge you encounter in your experience working with lawyers?
Deb: I have experienced this challenge both in working with lawyers and in the development of my own business growth plans. One of my favorite adages is “perfect is the enemy of good.” This is not to suggest that we sacrifice excellence for “good enough mediocrity.” It is to say that when up to creating something big, something important, something meaningful and something lasting, you do yourself a great favor by accepting that perfection isn’t a reasonable expectation. You give yourself permission to be unwavering and passionate about the purpose behind your strategy and at the same time give yourself “credit” for your efforts and directional successes along the way. Forward progress and momentum can be more valuable than flawless execution and perfection in one small part of the strategy.
Amber: In Strategy and the Fat Smoker, David Maister suggests that strategy is less about building a perfect plan and more about developing good habits. He posits that we already know which behaviors will make us successful, but we don’t always have the determination to stick with those behaviors, particularly over the long term. Rather, we get tied up in day-to-day tasks and allow our long-range plans to be derailed. Do you agree that effective strategy is more a matter of execution than of vision?
Deb: I love when Maister brings this phenomenon to life through the analogy of diet and fitness. He talks about how many people struggle to lose weight despite their knowledge of calories, fitness, nutrition and rest. He goes on to say that February is generally the time of year when a lot of New Year’s Resolutions to lose X number of pounds by XYZ date have become a New Year’s “Going Nowheres,” because people find it hard too hard to stick to a strict diet and fitness schedule. Frankly, they are tired, they are hungry and they are out of time on most days. People feel a general sense of “why bother” and feel defeated that they just can’t get it together, so they ditch the resolution all together and continue to do the things that keep them from the weight loss or fitness goal they aspire to achieve. Maister suggests that a better approach to getting focused on wellness instead of diet. Focusing on the right behaviors will eventually lead you to a positive outcome. He contends that small changes in behavior, like taking the stairs, or substituting water for soda, or choosing healthy food options more frequently than non-healthy food options, create bigger changes in weight by accumulating positive effects over time.
Big vision and grandiose strategy can feel like that, too. Imagine that you have a firm strategy of launching 20 client teams, only to find very few lawyers who share the vision or are willing to show up after the kick-off meeting. It can feel deflating to the point of abandoning the whole strategy all together. Instead, ask yourself, what are one or two areas where I have lawyers who are interested in a client team program to get some early wins? What small behavior changes can I train, coach, and encourage the lawyers to do in the pursuit of excellent client experience, that when accumulated over time, will generate interest and buy-in for a larger client team program? How do I break down the larger strategic vision into manageable, easier to execute efforts that are integrated into an attorney’s typical day? In my experience, with excellent execution over time, visions become realized more reliably.
Amber: When you have seen projects succeed and teams actually implement their strategies, what have been the critical components? What did those groups have that so many others did not?
Deb: Teams that have the most success in implementing strategies never forget the “why” or purpose behind what they are doing. Despite challenges and temporary setbacks, they are relentless in the pursuit of purpose and have belief that what they are pursuing will make a difference to someone or something. Success comes with celebrating small victories and advances along the way without hyper-critical judgment about the distance yet to go. The best strategy implementation happens when people know their strengths and apply their strengths in the roles where they are most likely make a positive contribution to the bigger goal and vision. There is also a willingness to celebrate mistakes as learning and a great deal of energy focused on both the WHAT and the HOW of implementation.