I am writing this blog in the South of France listening to Riviera Radio and being cooled by the ceiling fan we had installed last year. The photo is the view in the evening from a restaurant in Port Grimaud. First may I say that I am a big fan of France and the French and have enjoyed personal and business connections here for much of my life. I am trying hard to improve my modest spoken French taking a lesson every week. That said there are unique challenges in this wonderful country. I was driving back from the beach yesterday obeying, as an Englishman should do, the 30 kph speed limit near the beach resorts when a small lorry went round the wrong side of a roundabout to overtake me dramatically well in excess of the speed limit, then a car right behind me also overtook again aggressively and at high speed. Often you have motorbikes or mopeds weaving in and out of traffic and sweeping by with little margin for error. Don’t even think what e-scooters are like. They go by the charming French word “trottinette” - but there the charm ends. They are ridden at high speed on roads and pavements day and night with no helmets or much regard for other users. And then as my native French teacher sagely said in our last lesson “the French have no concept of service”. I drove for 30 minutes to Cavalaire to change a broken remote for the security garage and barrier to our building. They gave me the wrong one which I found out when I got back. So off I went again to arrive 10 minutes before their office opened – they were all however sitting there and could see but ignored me – OK fair enough so I went to get a coffee. Returning they recognised I had the wrong remote and changed it. However, they made no apology for their mistake, and worse still they tried to accuse me of not paying a service charge by cheque. I had as I explained paid by a bank transfer. I stepped towards the back of the office during the discussion, and one of the two ladies there told me aggressively to move back to the front!
This is a bit of an extreme example as mostly the French are charming and helpful, but it nicely illustrates my theme today which is that there are some givens you just have to accept and deal with in our professional as well as personal lives. If the culture of a law firm that you join is “eat what you kill” i.e. everybody for themselves, other partners may try to steal your clients. In a “collegiate” firm you can share clients and expect reciprocity. If in the context of an in-house legal department the leadership of the business has no moral compass (this happened to me much earlier in my career) you can as a lawyer expect challenges. Well run companies respect honesty and ethics and I have been privileged to work for them. If you do not like the situation you find in a professional practice or in-house role you have two choices: work within this and recognise the constraints – or leave. What you cannot generally do is change this status quo. That would be banging your head against the proverbial brick wall.
What you can within reason try and do is understand and fit in. Here is an interesting Forbes article How To Cope And Thrive In A Challenging Corporate Culture, Like Netflix which discusses “its unique and distinctive corporate culture that centers around high performance and the hiring and retaining of top talent.” It operates a “keeper test” which “requires managers to ask themselves two questions: “if X wanted to leave, would I fight to keep them?” and “knowing everything I know today, would I hire X again?” If the answer is “no,” the streaming platform suggests everyone part ways.” There is nothing wrong with this (the article says “The company has a reputation for providing its workforce autonomy and decision-making power”) but it could represent a challenge for some business leaders with a different philosophy.
Turning more to professional practices the first requisite is to understand what the culture is if you plan to join say a law firm. This applies whether you are joining as a graduate or an equity partner. See this Yale Law School article Assessing Law Firms: Culture, Clients, Compensation and Beyond which observes “The factors that create a firm’s “culture” can be challenging to nail down, but typically come from a firm’s behavioral norms and expectations. Does the firm articulate a set of core values? What does the firm focus on when evaluating performance? Is there a sense of collegiality? Are doors in the office open or closed? What is the firm’s attire policy? Are the attorneys of certain political affiliations? How do the attorneys treat the support staff? What opportunities does the firm provide for social and professional interaction among attorneys?”
While this article Law Firm Cultures which discusses potential change contains a good analysis of culture which “is the consistent pattern of day‐to‐day behaviors by which members of a group interact with each other and choose how to spend their time.” It proposes “a simple but effective approach, adapted from Rob Goffee’s and Gareth Jones’ seminal book The Character of a Corporation (New York: HarperCollins 1998), for understanding your firm’s culture and how it may need to change”. This involves dividing possible cultures into:
“Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” Peter Drucker.
“The only way to do great work is to love what you do.” Steve Jobs.
“There’s no magic formula for great company culture. The key is just to treat your staff how you would like to be treated.” Richard Branson.
And returning to French culture at the close, it is very powerful. I will never forget a road trip many many years ago to the South of France in a battered old Renault 5 car listening to the 1965 Joan Baez album (they existed before streaming) Farewell Angelina. If you have never heard “Colours” I recommend you listen to it.
This is a bit of an extreme example as mostly the French are charming and helpful, but it nicely illustrates my theme today which is that there are some givens you just have to accept and deal with in our professional as well as personal lives. If the culture of a law firm that you join is “eat what you kill” i.e. everybody for themselves, other partners may try to steal your clients. In a “collegiate” firm you can share clients and expect reciprocity. If in the context of an in-house legal department the leadership of the business has no moral compass (this happened to me much earlier in my career) you can as a lawyer expect challenges. Well run companies respect honesty and ethics and I have been privileged to work for them. If you do not like the situation you find in a professional practice or in-house role you have two choices: work within this and recognise the constraints – or leave. What you cannot generally do is change this status quo. That would be banging your head against the proverbial brick wall.
What you can within reason try and do is understand and fit in. Here is an interesting Forbes article How To Cope And Thrive In A Challenging Corporate Culture, Like Netflix which discusses “its unique and distinctive corporate culture that centers around high performance and the hiring and retaining of top talent.” It operates a “keeper test” which “requires managers to ask themselves two questions: “if X wanted to leave, would I fight to keep them?” and “knowing everything I know today, would I hire X again?” If the answer is “no,” the streaming platform suggests everyone part ways.” There is nothing wrong with this (the article says “The company has a reputation for providing its workforce autonomy and decision-making power”) but it could represent a challenge for some business leaders with a different philosophy.
Turning more to professional practices the first requisite is to understand what the culture is if you plan to join say a law firm. This applies whether you are joining as a graduate or an equity partner. See this Yale Law School article Assessing Law Firms: Culture, Clients, Compensation and Beyond which observes “The factors that create a firm’s “culture” can be challenging to nail down, but typically come from a firm’s behavioral norms and expectations. Does the firm articulate a set of core values? What does the firm focus on when evaluating performance? Is there a sense of collegiality? Are doors in the office open or closed? What is the firm’s attire policy? Are the attorneys of certain political affiliations? How do the attorneys treat the support staff? What opportunities does the firm provide for social and professional interaction among attorneys?”
While this article Law Firm Cultures which discusses potential change contains a good analysis of culture which “is the consistent pattern of day‐to‐day behaviors by which members of a group interact with each other and choose how to spend their time.” It proposes “a simple but effective approach, adapted from Rob Goffee’s and Gareth Jones’ seminal book The Character of a Corporation (New York: HarperCollins 1998), for understanding your firm’s culture and how it may need to change”. This involves dividing possible cultures into:
- Networked Cultures (High Friendliness, Low Common Focus)
- Silo Cultures (Low Friendliness, Low Common Focus)
- Meritocracy Cultures (Low Friendliness, High Common Focus)
- Collaborative Cultures (High Friendliness, High Common Focus)
“Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” Peter Drucker.
“The only way to do great work is to love what you do.” Steve Jobs.
“There’s no magic formula for great company culture. The key is just to treat your staff how you would like to be treated.” Richard Branson.
And returning to French culture at the close, it is very powerful. I will never forget a road trip many many years ago to the South of France in a battered old Renault 5 car listening to the 1965 Joan Baez album (they existed before streaming) Farewell Angelina. If you have never heard “Colours” I recommend you listen to it.
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