Phil Rosenzweig: Guide to taking the wisdom of law firm management to a deeper level

Beware of blueprints for success. A new book advises us to apply some critical thought when we are told that the steps to stellar performance are A, B, C, and D; and the pathway to failure includes E, F, G, and H. Firm management, leadership, analysis, and strategy are not as simple as some gurus would have us believe. Phil Rosenzweig explains fully and convincingly why a new level of discernment is necessary when listening to and reading the advice of business pundits (of course, including law firm experts).

In his brand new book The Halo Effect . . . and the Eight Other Business Delusions That Deceive Managers, Rosenzweig invites readers to put on spectacles of sophistication when evaluating management advice and gives them the tools to do so. After reading this book, you probably also will look with critical eyes at gurus of all stripes from those instructing us about physical fitness to the ubiquitous self-help gang to the marketing maestros to the leadership laureates.

Rosenzweig presents nine delusions that draw in (even enchant) those in management and leadership positions.

The Halo Effect: When a company's sales and profits are up, people often conclude that it has a brilliant strategy, a visionary leader, capable employees, and a superb corporate culture. When performance falters, they conclude that the strategy was wrong, the leader became arrogant, the people were complacent, and the culture was stagnant. In fact, little may have changed -- company performance creates a Halo that shapes the way we perceive strategy, leadership, people, culture, and more.

The Delusion of Correlation and Causality: Two things may be correlated, but which causes which?

The Delusion of Single Explanations: Many studies show that a particular factor, such as corporate culture or social responsibility or customer focus, leads to improved performance; we tend to exaggerate the importance of any one factor in performance.

The Delusion of Connecting the Dots: Looking for commonalities in successful companies [let me add law firms here] doesn’t work.

The Delusion of Rigorous Research: Many best-selling authors praise themselves for the vast amount of data they have gathered but forget that if the data aren't valid, the findings are doubtful.

The Delusion of Lasting Success: Blueprints for lasting success are attractive but unrealistic.

The Delusion of Absolute Performance: Company performance is relative to competition, not absolute.

The Delusion of the Wrong End of the Stick: We tend to confuse cause and effect.

The Delusion of Organizational Physics: Company performance does not obey immutable laws of nature.

These days I am finding that very few books warrant my full attention and page-by-page reading; I typically skim and skip. This book kept me up late last night and not a page was skimmed or skipped. Have you read it yet? If so, what are your thoughts? If you have not yet read The Halo Effect, I recommend you put aside an evening for page-turning and enlightenment.

For more information, see Rosenzweig's blog THE HALO EFFECT dedicated to clear thinking about business and management and  an article "Why Success Formulas Will Never Work…but Consulting Can Add Real Value."