The headline comes from a fascinating book I’ve been working through the last couple of months, Small Giants by Bo Burlingham. Published in 2005, it might be my favorite business read of the year thus far. It profiles 14 small businesses (a relative term…I’d only heard of one, Clif Bar, prior to reading the book) and the subtitle is, Companies That Choose to Be Great Instead of Big. I’ve tried to really keep up on my outside business management reading this year because it’s just a fact, if you’re involved in managing a small law practice you have more in common with non-lawyer business owners than your typical lawyer/associates and in my opinion reading only within the legal media doesn’t give you the breadth of expertise you need.
The concept of “mojo” is introduced upfront…a sort of elusive quality that these companies have related to their passion for being. Clif Bar’s founder, Gary Erickson labeled it as “something about the brand, product, and way of being in the world that was different. I realized that mojo was an elusive quality and needed to be tended carefully.” I think of this as some connection between your business to some bigger goal/purpose beyond the narrow product or service you provide.
Another characteristic of the businesses profiled is the intimacy of connection with the communities in which they’re located…i.e. it’s hard to imagine them being located anywhere else. Some of our Midwest readership might be familiar with Zingerman’s deli in Ann Arbor, Michigan, a good example of a business with a very intimate relationship with its location. On one side this is reflected in the inherent style/culture of the company (think Bentonville, AR w/ Wal-Mart as an example) but it’s also the direct financial support of community organizations through the business/profits. I’m attracted to making this a BIG goal of mine. The broad framework might be connecting my firm with a nonprofit or two consistent with our values and possibly practice areas. For example, the bigger local passion might be eradicating domestic violence and that’s what your legal services business is about through your practice, direct financial support, volunteerism, board service, and depending how you feel about this aspect, this could be part of your marketing plan too. Particularly with a law firm, I think this can also add a bit to your “mojo” and general employee morale because lets face it, part of lawyerland is just dealing with unhappy people at life’s lower points but if you’re connected to something larger this might really give your firm culture a boost. Creating your own foundation might be another way to accomplish this purpose. In Chicago, I’ve been impressed with what I saw being done by real estate company Baird & Warner and their foundation when I had a closing recently down at its headquarters at 120 S. LaSalle.
A chapter is titled, A Culture of Intimacy, discusses mostly the intimate relationships between company and employees. A lot of this chapter is a discussion of the great fringe benefits that go to the employees of these firms from education reimbursements, health insurance, retirement benefits, and flexibility of schedules. The underlying premise being to remind people in unexpected ways how much the company cares about them. I aspire to this too…with all the people who are just miserable and unhappy in their jobs, wouldn’t it be nice to create a great environment for people to spend those 8 hours each day & to really be part of something larger than oneself?
A way to think about your business: “An attempt…to reorder the world in some way.” Could you develop a “Direction Statement” for you firm like Reell Precision Manufacturing? Not the businessy-type document that a business or marketing plan should be but rather guiding principles discussing company values, management concepts, and ideals to guide everything that your firm is going to be about.
And you’ve got to get the money/profit right to do all these great things. A good quote from dressmaker Selima Stavola, “If they call up on the phone and ask me how much I charge, I say, you can’t afford me.” I can relate to this myself when focusing on the level of paranoid, thoroughness that I try to bring to the table as a lawyer…the documents must be right, that’s my work product. I don’t want to have any thoughts in the back of my mind asking, will I get paid for this level of attention to detail. Remember, a company without profit is dangerously close to not being around at all.
The book concludes with an inspiring chapter, The Art of Business, and profiles the founder of Inc. magazine, Bernard Goldhirsh and his quotation…
I kept thinking that the entrepreneur is like an artist, only business is the means of his expression. He creates a business from nothing, just a blank canvas. It’s amazing. Somebody goes into a garage, has nothing but an idea, and out of the garage comes a company, a living company. It’s so special what they do. They are a treasure.
That’s what you can do! You can reorder the world in a way that you value, having a great impact on the people at your firm and your clients. It doesn’t just have to be the drudgery of reviewing another contract…make it about something BIGGER. It’s your blank canvas.
These are the 14 companies profiled:
Anchor Brewing
CitiStorage
Clif Bar
ECCO
Hammerhead Productions
O.C. Tanner Co.
Reell Precision Manufacturing
Rhythm & Hues Studio
Righteous Babe Records
The Goltz Group
Union Square Hospitality Group
W.L. Butler Construction
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