So, everywhere one turns you hear about how well a given restructuring practice is doing. You probably have heard the conversation, or even been a part of one, that goes something like this:
Sam (a hypothetical restructuring attorney): "So Bill how are things going?"
Bill (a hypothetical restructuring consultant): "Gee, Sam these are interesting times. You busy."
Sam: "For sure."
Bill: "Yea, I know the feeling."
Sam: "Want to have lunch?"
Bill: "Sure, I can do it any day next week."
Why do I have the feeling that the truth is that a handful of firms are very, very busy, while most others have yet to come close to operating at capacity? And even those practices that are operating at close to capacity are not throwing off the collateral work to come close to carrying the rest of their firms.
Of course, every professional wants to portray the image of being very busy. Obviously, being less than very busy during such a meltdown would have others wondering about your proficiency.
But,
proficiency...alone...is not determining how busy a given firm is. Practice strategy and strategy implementation are having, as they always do, a major impact.
The buying patterns are very, very different in this downturn, at least so far. Practices marching to their playbook from 2000-2001 downturn, or from that in the early '90's, are likely to be sub-optimizing their performance relative to their talent. Truth be told!
There will be some huge winners among professional service firms in this extended downturn. And most competent restructuring professionals...whether attorney, consultant or investment banker...will do better than they have done in recent years. But, many practices will end up disappointing Managing Partners looking for the Restructuring practices to carry their firms in these challenging times.
Is your practice positioned to be among the winners in this new world?
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