An appetite for blogging

This blog began in White City. Being stuck on a London underground train due to a signal failure on a Monday morning does have some benefits – though I must admit to being a bit concerned as I am likely to be late for my first meeting of the day, a coffee chat with the head of communications at one of the “Magic Circle” law firms.

It is those two facts that led my thoughts this morning 1) The way in which coffee bars seem to have overtaken the office as preferred places to meet, work an undertake normal business activity and 2) Communications within the Magic Circle.

Let’s start with the latter; we have been doing a lot of work with legal practices of late. Not exactly intentional, but in response to a very specific need – to clearly communicate how one seemingly identical organisation is different from another. And of course they are different, though the differences are not always those that the firm identifies as their points of difference in the first place. When asked how are you different, we are inevitably given geographic reach, prowess of senior partners, billing levels or simply a list of products. And yes, some of these may be different from one firm to another, but they are certainly not differentiators. Think about it, why do you choose a small, but well established law firm with a dozen partners to help you with your conveyancing and one of the Magic Circle (at exponentially higher fees) when in a corporate take over battle.

The first clue is in the way I described the needs – one is for help – the human touch, understanding, guidance and a sympathetic ear on this very personal activity. The other is for battle – the confident battalion that will fight my corner, see all the angles, strategise and commit the armed forces to the task relentlessly 24/7. Of course, they both can do either task (and probably have departments that focus on it), but when. I choose, I am choosing by my perception – that very subjective and personal understanding ­– of WHO they are, their point of difference. Partly truth, partly spin, and wholly culture and communications.

Now this leads me on to my second thought of the day – the mobile office. I don’t know about you, but I spend around 25% of my time “working” on trains, planes and cafes. And often this isn’t by necessity, this is by choice. You already know that I start each morning with my triple espresso over ice at the Starbucks on the corner. Here I read the paper, plan my day, and write when I really need to focus. I don’t know why, but the very fact that I am somewhat anonymous, that I am surrounded by a sea of people in their own world, and that there is ambient noise which never distracts me – all these allow me to create and work most effectively. An extension of multi-tasking? Perhaps. But more likely, an example of how the world has changed – where we no longer compartmentalise our lives. Where work, play and all of life have fused. This is a fundamental change and don’t claim to know the impact that it will have on the future – and will leave that to the anthropologists to answer. What I do know, is that I am not the only one because as I look round this cafe near Borough Market waiting for my Magic Circle client, there are another dozen or so, just like me!