A turnaround specialist is, to put it delicately, a person who specializes in the revitalization and renewal of companies, ventures and startups. They do "whatever is necessary" to make a a venture operate at its utmost. They provide what they call "break-though solutions" for that which constrains the old management.
I say this is the delicate description, because turnaround experts word what they do in a way that sounds at best professional. Their detractors make it sound more barbaric. No matter how you phrase the goals or actions undertaken, it is powerful medicine designed to put the organization in tip top shape quickly.
There are actually companies and individuals out there that promote themselves for these positions.
These professionals perform what they often term to be "diagnostic assessments". This means they identify everything -- and I mean every little thing -- that is potentially unnecessary to achieve profitability. This includes cash flow and expenses. Then they act.
But, what is that a turnaround specialist typically does to bring an organization down to fighting weight? I have always found this very interesting.
These professionals immediately and drastically eliminate large numbers of staff and consultants. They sell all assets that have some value. They dispose of all assets that have liabilities. They rid themselves of clients and customers that do not properly contribute to profits. They reduce the organizations under their control to its utmost core competencies. In other words, they reduce the company to a niche with no asset or liabilities. They cut the ventures to the bone so as to operate with as few people as possible, with as little overhead as possible, so as to maximize the earnings. In short, they sacrifice cash flow, people, devices and structure to achieve profit.
These professionals have work because, by and large, the Conquer the World, ego driven strategy of old management does not work.
The goal is to do one or a few things very well, cost efficiently, with as few people as possible, and with as little space as possible, with as much cheap technology as possible, so as to maximize earnings (or that portion of cash flow that can flow home or to the investors).
But, is this not what the Third Wave practice of law is all about? So, why are you not a turnaround manager? Why are you, as a lawyer, busy trying to make money for doing nothing, chasing clients and cases in numbers (quantity) instead of taking an ax to your practice, reducing it down to its core competency (do what you do best or can do best), and make money with as few quality clients or cases as possible.
Pretend that you are the turnaround expert that you have brought in to evaluate your practice. What would you do in his or her shoes? Reduce the practice area to one, or even a subset of one? Fire all or most of the staff? Get rid of all or most of the office space? Get rid of all overhead and replace it with cheap tech to make you more efficient? Start purging clients that get in the way of this new structure? Move everybody home?
As they say in East Texas, damn straight you would. So, the question, is why do not do this now?
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