David Maister's new book, Strategy and the Fat Smoker, explores the most important and elusive strategic concept plaguing professional service firms today. Maister delves deep into the differences between knowing what to do, knowing how to do it, and actually getting it done.
The book's main point is similar to the concept of the 2000 business sensation, The Knowing - Doing Gap, by Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert I. Sutton. The key concept of both books surrounds strategy execution. In Strategy and the Fat Smoker, the focus is on professional service firms. Maister uses his experience reviewing the strategic plans of various competing law firms and accounting firms, noting that the concepts contained in the plans are for the most part all the same. The key differentiating factors of the more successful firms are not contained in the plans themselves so much as the way they go about actualizing on the objectives and initiatives within the plans.
Like other Maister books, Strategy and the Fat Smoker can be found in the libraries and on the desks of managing partners and firm leaders in law firms around the world. Much of Maister's practice and experience has been gained by working with and advising the largest law firms in the world.
Writers and readers of Lawyers Alert support and have benefited from Maister's work. This new book is definitely worth a look. To that end, we will award a free copy of Strategy and the Fat Smoker to each of three randomly drawn Lawyers Alert readers who take two minutes to provide us with feedback on this issue of Lawyers Alert. Interested readers are asked to visit:
http://www.collinsbarrow.com/LawyersAlert/Winter2008
You'll find our quick and easy feedback questionnaire as well as the latest Reader Poll question, polling lawyers on a current issue in the practice of law.
Happy reading!
Todd MacDonald is the Director of Practice Development with Collins Barrow’s National Office.