As Matt hands the baton to me for Part II of our blogs on “bad business behavior,” a couple of points do need reiterating. What we are experiencing is far from isolated—it is, unfortunately, something we hear from others (in our industry and out) almost every day. We are also sure that at least some of those employing a ‘hurry up and wait forever’ modus operandi are not necessarily bad people but, rather, are caught up in a combination of analysis paralysis and economics fear.
Unfortunately, current economic realities—both real and imagined—seem to have emboldened some to justify an approach to business that is, plain and simply, disrespectful and wrong. Though the instances are thankfully few (and thank goodness for the many, many great clients we have the privilege to work with every day), we have seen a preponderance in the past six months that are particularly perplexing, including individuals who approach and hire us for our expertise, are provided with tangible work product and results and then attempt to devalue our counsel. In my four-plus decades of life and nearly three in the workplace, I have never before had to enlist the assistance of the judicial system to be paid for contracted work. That has changed in recent months.
The fact of the matter is, things will improve. The economy will come back. In the meantime, it should be incumbent upon all of us to take an accounting of how we are behaving and operating in the interim and examine just how, exactly, we are treating others both inside and outside our respective organizations. Remember the old adage: Treat people well and they’ll tell someone else. Treat them poorly and they’ll tell 10 others. Here’s another: this is a very small town.
It’s a short-term vs. long-term view dynamic. Are we positioning ourselves for future roads best traveled or irreverseably burning bridges as we come upon them?