We’ve all heard the saying, “You’re either getting better or you’re getting worse — there is no in-between.”
I, however, have sensed that many leaders believe that they have a choice in this matter, that they think just maintaining is enough to stay at the top of their game.
News flash: it is, in fact, not.
There is actually no difference between doing worse and staying where you are. The only way that staying where you are and staying stagnant as a business would work would be if all of your competitors also stayed stagnant.
The problem with this is that in reality, other firms in your market are going to continue to improve their teams and innovate, becoming more and more competitive each day, distancing the gap and making it harder for you and your firm to catch up.
To put it simply, by maintaining and staying at the same level, you are putting yourself at a competitive disadvantage every single day that you stay in place. So long as ambitious and committed law firm owners exist, no one is safe.
You cannot simply coast.
I think it is really important to note, however, that improving can’t just happen overnight — it really comes down to making marginal gains that build up to big wins over time.
Think of it this way: if you become 1% better every single day for a full year, by the end of the year, you will be 37 times better than when you started. Conversely, if you decided to take your foot off the gas and become 1% worse each day, by the end of the year, you would decline to zero.
Zero! No one wants that.
Although it’s hard to see what a 1% improvement would look like on a day-to-day basis, when you look back, you’ll be able to see how far you’ve actually come and the distance you’ve put between you and other law firms.
So put your foot back on the gas — or get left in the dust.
