Second, Drucker implores you to talk to non-clients. It’s devoutly to be wished that your clients like you, but what about the overwhelming majority of businesses and individuals that are not your clients at the moment? What do they want? How do they get their legal needs met?
Prof. McGrath also has a recommendation that echoes our writing suggesting law firms look at setting aside a tiny percentage of their revenue (1/4 of 1%?) for R&D:
You need a portfolio of opportunities. I believe in investing in several options: Some will pay off, and some won’t. Some of them might be mutually exclusive. Verizon, for example, knew that landline telephones were disappearing. A lot of companies would have just milked that business for the cash cow that it was, but Ivan Seidenberg took out investments in four or five mutually exclusive networking technologies and let them run until it became clear which one would be dominant. Then he invested heavily in that technology and shut the others down. Most companies don’t do that.
If you’ve read this far, you would be making a reasonable assumption to assume that I’m implying Law Land should take heed because I believe its “theory of the business” is approaching obsolescence.
Not so. Well, not exactly.
I write at year-end, on this conventional occasion for reflection, because I hope one of your New Year’s resolutions, Dear Reader, is to begin taking less for granted.
To exercise your brain’s higher analytic functions (taxing as it can be, if pursued conscientiously) with greater rigor. To make fewer assumptions. To treat the status quo as just one of an almost infinite variety of “status’s,” and not first among equals. To be on alert. To be nimble, agile, responsive, far-sighted. If Drucker’s thesis does or will soon apply to Law Land, you’ll be lapping the field. If it doesn’t or won’t soon, I still will guarantee you a richer intellectual, moral, and personal life.
Happy New Year.
