Open any book about strategy and you will read how product-focused companies have succeeded. You can learn, for example, about how Japanese cars beat the US giant auto manufacturers at their own game or how Microsoft came to dominate the market for PC software. The trouble is, though, most of the economy is driven by service businesses, which are almost always harder to manage than the sorts of organisations described in strategy books. It is particularly difficult to develop strategy in a law firm where everyone is intelligent, articulate and where, all too often, people have conflicting ideas about where the firm should be heading.
Part of the problem is around the meaning of the word ‘strategy’. It is one of the most overused in business but among the least understood. Frequently it is used without any specificity to convey a vague aura of importance or as an excuse not to get involved in detail. What we mean by strategy, though, is very simple – it is the plan that a firm adopts to achieve its goals.
