Identifying Your Focus

Identifying your firm’s focus is critical to long-term growth. The most successful firms are clear about who they are, whom they serve, and what value they deliver.

An example of leadership, ingenuity, and selfless collaboration

In the movie Apollo 13, after the crew has survived several harrowing events, the team must adjust its angle to Earth to set the proper trajectory for reentry into Earth’s atmosphere. Too flat an angle bounces the capsule back into space and too steep an angle incinerates the ship. As bad luck would have it, the crew does not have enough battery power to fire up the computer guidance system. The crew determines that the “old-fashioned” way to accomplish the same task is to identify a fixed point in space through one of the capsule’s windows. Earth becomes their fixed point. By keeping Earth in the window as the rockets fire, the crew is able to manually set course. The scene is intense as it shows the crew stalwartly setting the ship on the correct course.

I love this scene because of its intensity, clarity, and ingenuity. As I watched the movie for the 10^th time, the scene reminded me of how I often see professional services firms trying to make strategic decisions. While their decisions and actions are neither life-threatening nor historic, they are relevant to the success of firm missions.

The most successful firms are able to look out their proverbial windows, spot their fixed objects in space, fire their engines and head for home. They achieve this by being very clear about who they are, whom they serve and what value they deliver. Most importantly, they work together, regardless of what circumstances they must overcome to complete their missions.

Less successful firms cannot locate their focal points. As a result, they bounce off into outer space or burn up. They do this by either trying to be all things to all people or becoming self-centered and self-serving, thereby neglecting the broader well being of the firm. Infighting, greed, self-righteousness, irresolution, indecision and leadership gaps are just a few of the causes. For whatever reason, in the end, the inability to set a clear vision and make strategic choices leads to mission failure (slower growth, low profitability, obsolescence, higher turnover, firm collapse, etc.)

READ: The BS of PS: Overcoming the Dysfunctional Roadblocks to Growth in Pro Services

Take away

It seems like common sense that members of the firm would all work together for the well being of the firm and its clients. Unfortunately, dysfunctional cultures and misaligned performance measurement systems can create just the opposite behaviors. In order to make it successfully home, leaders must identify that fixed object in space before hitting the thrusters. You don’t need perfection. Like Houston said, “That’s close enough, Jim. Good work.”  On the other hand, failing to do so may lead to a very undesirable outcome.

Be prudent.

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