Page 32 - MASTER COPY LEADERS BOOK 9editedJKK (24)_Neat
P. 32
Leaders in Legal Business
– Collecting fact bases and evidence to support recommendations. Through research and market knowledge
this may extend to peer group comparisons, sector analysis, client and market opinion gathering, etc.;
– Identifying the options that are realistically available, the consequences of taking such courses, promoting
the preferred option, and offering clear rationale for such preference;
– Focusing the minds of partners and other stakeholders on the things that are important and relevant;
– Leading an intellectual journey designed to reconcile (if possible) disparate views and/or preferences
and/or prejudices into a common or substantial majority understanding;
– Identifying blockages (whether in systems, organization, or culture) that stop firms being able to change
or improve themselves, and showing what must be done to make it happen. Paying for consultancy is
wasteful unless the people who will have to do things differently understand what must change, why it
must change, and, crucially, agree to do it; and
– Helping leaders to understand what must be done to implement the solutions successfully.
All of that said, a good consulting firm will not seek to push their product or service, and won’t try to put
your problem into their box; instead, the lead partner will seek to deeply understand the firm’s needs and then
craft a process by which the challenge can be overcome.
3) What You Can Expect
A good consulting firm should always distinguish between a.) the subject/content area of client’s
challenge or goal, and b.) the process by which that challenge is overcome or goal is realized. The last section
dealt with the subject/content area; this section explains why the process is important and the type of process that
a law firm should expect of a consulting firm.
The process by which a consulting firm helps firm management overcome a challenge or realize a goal is
critical for several reasons. First, while firms in similar market positions and of similar sizes may have similar
challenges and goals, each firm is different; a pre-packaged solution often does not work out of the box. Second,
it is highly likely that the firm’s management, with or without partner consultation, has already thought about an
issue and is calling the consulting firm because the firm is stuck and can’t make progress on the issue. Third, the
consultant’s first rule of engagement is that s/he must do no harm, and proper advice can be given only once the
firm and its challenge are understood fully and deeply.
We distinguish between three types of consulting engagements: a consulting project around a given set
of challenges (perceived or real) or goals, retained advice, and ad hoc advisory work. We consider these in turn,
followed by a note regarding implementation and related services.
4) Projects-Based Consultancy
Consulting takes various forms, depending on the client’s situation and needs. Our firm usually takes on
discrete assignments that have multiple stages or overlapping/parallel elements, and can range from two weeks’
duration to 12 months. With such large assignments it is essential to have a clearly defined objective and a detailed
project plan agreed upon in advance with the client, and there will usually be a specified outcome.
Most consulting projects — whether it’s a few meetings with experts or a project lasting 12 months or longer —
usually have the following five broad components:
First, definition and diagnostics: This simply asks the following question: “What’s going on here?” The
purpose of this element is to determine the actual underlying challenge, and whether this challenge is the same or
different from the one perceived by firm management. Second, this element seeks to understand this challenge or,
depending on the objective, to understand the goals that the firm wants to achieve. Third, depending on the project,
this element also seeks to validate assumptions, develop and validate hypotheses, and to uncover insights that
help develop options for a solution to the issue in the steps that follow.
25
– Collecting fact bases and evidence to support recommendations. Through research and market knowledge
this may extend to peer group comparisons, sector analysis, client and market opinion gathering, etc.;
– Identifying the options that are realistically available, the consequences of taking such courses, promoting
the preferred option, and offering clear rationale for such preference;
– Focusing the minds of partners and other stakeholders on the things that are important and relevant;
– Leading an intellectual journey designed to reconcile (if possible) disparate views and/or preferences
and/or prejudices into a common or substantial majority understanding;
– Identifying blockages (whether in systems, organization, or culture) that stop firms being able to change
or improve themselves, and showing what must be done to make it happen. Paying for consultancy is
wasteful unless the people who will have to do things differently understand what must change, why it
must change, and, crucially, agree to do it; and
– Helping leaders to understand what must be done to implement the solutions successfully.
All of that said, a good consulting firm will not seek to push their product or service, and won’t try to put
your problem into their box; instead, the lead partner will seek to deeply understand the firm’s needs and then
craft a process by which the challenge can be overcome.
3) What You Can Expect
A good consulting firm should always distinguish between a.) the subject/content area of client’s
challenge or goal, and b.) the process by which that challenge is overcome or goal is realized. The last section
dealt with the subject/content area; this section explains why the process is important and the type of process that
a law firm should expect of a consulting firm.
The process by which a consulting firm helps firm management overcome a challenge or realize a goal is
critical for several reasons. First, while firms in similar market positions and of similar sizes may have similar
challenges and goals, each firm is different; a pre-packaged solution often does not work out of the box. Second,
it is highly likely that the firm’s management, with or without partner consultation, has already thought about an
issue and is calling the consulting firm because the firm is stuck and can’t make progress on the issue. Third, the
consultant’s first rule of engagement is that s/he must do no harm, and proper advice can be given only once the
firm and its challenge are understood fully and deeply.
We distinguish between three types of consulting engagements: a consulting project around a given set
of challenges (perceived or real) or goals, retained advice, and ad hoc advisory work. We consider these in turn,
followed by a note regarding implementation and related services.
4) Projects-Based Consultancy
Consulting takes various forms, depending on the client’s situation and needs. Our firm usually takes on
discrete assignments that have multiple stages or overlapping/parallel elements, and can range from two weeks’
duration to 12 months. With such large assignments it is essential to have a clearly defined objective and a detailed
project plan agreed upon in advance with the client, and there will usually be a specified outcome.
Most consulting projects — whether it’s a few meetings with experts or a project lasting 12 months or longer —
usually have the following five broad components:
First, definition and diagnostics: This simply asks the following question: “What’s going on here?” The
purpose of this element is to determine the actual underlying challenge, and whether this challenge is the same or
different from the one perceived by firm management. Second, this element seeks to understand this challenge or,
depending on the objective, to understand the goals that the firm wants to achieve. Third, depending on the project,
this element also seeks to validate assumptions, develop and validate hypotheses, and to uncover insights that
help develop options for a solution to the issue in the steps that follow.
25
