Legal Commentary

On Being All Things

By Patrick J. Lamb

Yesterday, I saw something I had never seen before.  A Lincoln pick-up truck.  I've never seen a BMW pick-up, or a Lexus pick-up truck.  Nor, if memory serves, an Audi, Bentley, Rolls, Porsche or Infinity pick-up.  I was surprised.  Lincoln used to represent the ultimate in American luxury cars.

Why did this resonate with me?  I had been having a conversation with a friend of mine, a partner at a very large law firm.  He kept talking about the firm's multi-stage platform and how good the firm was at, well, everything.

When I saw the Lincoln pick-up truck, I knew two things.  One is that it is not possible to be all things to everyone, or even many.  These days, that opportunity doesn't exist anymore.  And if you try to be all things to some, you are destined to be nothing to all.

The second thing?  I'll never buy a Lincoln, precisely because of the first thing.

Full post as published by In Search of Perfect Client Service on April 09, 2009 (boomark / email).