One of the hardest parts of my job is advising a client who has gotten stuck. Maybe they made a bad business decision a few years back but can’t admit it to themselves. Or maybe a once-successful approach is no longer working but “escalation of commitment” — the business school term for holding on too long to a strategy that was once successful — is a barrier to making appropriate adjustments.
Legal practice is far from immune to escalation of commitment. Throughout my career, I have seen too many instances in which a trial team continues with a legal strategy, despite red flags that it may not be working, and misses opportunities to reevaluate and pivot. One reason I started Goodman Law Group was that I wanted to be nimble and flexible enough to do what was best for the client at all times, even if that meant changing the plan, sometimes more than once. We offer our second-opinion consulting services to identify a new path forward for parties embroiled in disputes who have lost the forest for the trees. We know how powerful it can be to help free people from a rigid view of the problem and the possible solutions.
Persistence can be a laudable trait, but it is harmful when it gets in the way of re-evaluating our decisions and making timely course corrections. Whether in business or the law, when we keep an open mind, we create more possible paths forward. And whichever path my clients choose, they know they won’t have to walk it alone.
