A NEW ORG CHART

As a law firm do you understand with clarity how your legal services are developed, sold and distributed? In the view you have in your mind of your law firm are you mainly focused on the inside of your firm? Since you spend most of your time within doing some form of producing legal work this tendency is quite possible. To get a clear idea if this afflicts you or if you have a flawed view of your law firm draw an organization chart and see if it has explanations for your clients, the products and services you provide, the flow of work from demand to supply. Does it show what you do, who you do it for and how you do it? Whatever diagram you drew probably did not address any of these things, probably showed the departments in your firm and you might have said in your mind I know what we are about.
But putting the opening questions above as vital and not forgotten after-thoughts is the key challenge. Having them at the centre of your mind as you practice is one reason why you will see opportunities others don't and why you will rise above the me,me,me is dull,dull,dull phenomenon.
Now, the organization chart you are used to would most usually address the departments and practice areas in your firm, who reports to who, and who is where such as; Board of Directors, Principal Partner, Practice Heads, Unit Heads etc. This is all well and good but when you see your law firm like this you begin to get the idea that this is your law firm, you think about your law firm like this and your law firm can only process things like this. Things have to fit into this structure and if they don't then they fall beneath the radar and no one pays attention to them.
Thus, a simple diagram has become Hadrian's Wall that blocks your mind and limits your operation to your own unit and getting to another unit is almost crossing the wall but you have to be able to do cross border work and be organised to move quickly enough to do it. The mere fact that Hadrian's Wall can be applied to the internal workings of your law firm is a major challenge.
Borders are terrific things and crossing one illegally is a violation of the Montevideo Convention on the definition of a state which is why they are such a big deal with sophisticated, weaponised reinforcements. A border has no business in your law firm because they have other vices; they make you slow, slow will not encourage initiative or innovative engagement with the drive, aggression and responsiveness needed with moving the business forward.
And all of this from a simple organization chart.