In the traditional view of business competition, I should hate David Maister. He targets the same types of clients that I do -- professional service firms -- and his work is designed to help them achieve the same goals -- marketplace gains.
But I just can't do it. Here's a guy who smashes many of our traditional notions: that academics (even former academics) can't be practical, and that consultants who haven't worked on "the inside" can't teach us anything about how to run our professional firms better. His writing is a pleasure to read, and almost makes it feel like we're in a conversation. He gives away a treasure trove of fantastic tips, tools, and techniques to help professional service firms improve in almost every way.
What in the world would cause me to issue such praise? Hey, I know good stuff when I see it. I just reviewed an advance copy of Maister's upcoming book, Strategy and the Fat Smoker, available for pre-orders here.
Here's what I liked about the new book:
- Maister's anecdotes about his own professional journey, and commentary from real people (his trainer).
- In Chapter 3, a fantastic list of a firm's optimal behaviors and states of mind.
- In Chapter 5, two big suggestions about how firms should build commitment toward pursuing a common purpose.
- The entire Chapter 8, which specifically deals with the management of marketing. Most marketing leaders would recognize this chapter as critical to becoming more effective. (The ones who don't are smoking something.) In particular, I'm intrigued by Maister's point: "Firms do not need to teach their people how to sell. They need to find out, person by person, what kind of work turns each partner on and what kind of clients each person could actually get interested in." This point alone deserves deep examination by all marketing leaders in every professional service firm. It's one I will also address, in my upcoming book, The Integration Imperative, which I plan to publish in 2008.
Buried deep in the book, in Chapter 9, Maister boldly admits:
"I don't know (yet) how to get short-term thinkers to become long-term thinkers. I've tried logic. It hasn't worked well on nonbelievers. I've tried presenting conclusive data. It hasn't worked well on nonbelievers. I've tried appealing to matters of principle, standards, values, and meaning. It hasn't worked well on nonbelievers. I now wonder whether people can be 'converted' on this topic. Preferred styles seem to be well entrenched in people's personalities long before the age at which I'd meet them. The best any of us can do, probably, is to help the believers develop the courage to implement what they already believe."
His metaphor of "The Fat Smoker" works very well with individuals, as Maister acknowledges, but the vast majority of professional service managers are indeed nonbelievers and short-term thinkers. They will need to see examples of real firms that have begun to make the significant changes that he describes. This book doesn't provide them.
On behalf of all those who could be converted to believe in Maister's views, I'd ask: "Who's becoming a believer? Which firms are transforming into long-term thinking enterprises? Beyond the usual suspects (Bain, McKinsey, Goldman Sachs), is there any firm that has even begun becoming a non-smoking, fit professional service firm?" Please, please, tell us their stories!
And, knowing David Maister, that's exactly what's coming next.
Damn it.
