Like the title of David Maister’s next book Strategy and the fat smoker suggests, the problem is not that we don’t know what to do, it’s that we know and choose to ignore. Based on a series of articles written and posted online, Maister’s latest offering promises a dose of “real” strategy: “Real strategy lies not in figuring out what to do, but in devising ways to ensure that, compared to others Let’s really do it.” more than everyone knows they should be doing.” In other words, it’s about implementation, and that’s the focus of the book. Organized into sections related to how organizations should think about strategy, customers (including marketing and sales) and management, Strategy and the Fat Smoker is for those who understand that knowing without doing adds little value.

I started by reading the introductory chapters on strategy. Several gems jump out at you, including:

If you really want to succeed (and many people don’t want it enough to make it happen) then you should never settle, never give up, never give up, never just accept what is, even if you are currently performing at a high level. . .

and

[T]The main result of strategic planning should not be analytical vision or intelligent decisions, but a superior resolve to achieve something.

and

The best way to approach this reassessment [of the organization’s purpose, mission, vision and values] is to start with a very small inner circle of senior leaders, who can look each other in the eye and ask, “Are these really the decision rules that we as leaders are willing to abide by?”

Maister invites readers to dive into any chapter, and after I understood his approach to strategy, I dove into Chapter 17: The Trouble with Lawyers. Maister’s preface to this chapter indicates that he originally wrote it to explain “why lawyers and law firms are different from other professions,” but that others in the financial services and consulting industry identify with the culture and behavior that Maister attributes to the legal profession. Almost any lawyer who reads this chapter will recognize that Maister is speaking to us. He highlights four problems that prevent “lawyers from functioning effectively in groups:”

• trust issues;
• difficulties with ideology, values ​​and principles;
• professional detachment; and
• unusual approaches to decision-making (referring to lawyers’ propensity to attack any idea presented to locate and highlight its weaknesses, with the result that “within a short time, most ideas, no matter who initiates them, will be destroyed, discarded, or postponed for future review”).

Having identified and explained these quirks, Maister asks why lawyers do so well financially if the profession is plagued with these problems, and his answer is tested by the step-by-step approach that firms tend to take to innovation:

The biggest advantage lawyers have is that they compete only with other lawyers. If everyone else does equally poorly, and customers and recruits find little variation between companies, even the most egregious behavior won’t lead to competitive disadvantage.

Maister suggests that only client pressure is likely to compel firms to start acting “like firms: providing continuous service, practice areas that have depth (and not just a collection of individualistic stars), and real teamwork.” cross-border”. Having come to understand some of the issues that have prevented that so far will help companies adapt as customer pressure is applied.

Other chapters of Strategy and the Fat Smoker also have applications for lawyers and firms. The book does an excellent job of delivering on its subtitled promise of teaching organizations and individuals to do “the obvious but not easy.” It is readable, practical and insightful.