by Mark Sirkin

For generations, the dominant image or metaphor for career advancement has been the ladder: climbing the ladder of success, progressing up the career ladder, and making it to the top (of the ladder) all make conscious or unconscious use of this imagery.  Law firms, and law firm consultants, have often adapted this image in an effort to make law firms more “corporate.”  As a law firm consultant, with deep experience in the corporate world, I must plead guilty to similar thinking.  But it has always left me uncomfortable.  Law firms are professional partnerships and the corporate ladder or pyramid image has often been a forced fit, both for me and my clients.

There have been some recent advances in our thinking about professional service firms that may be more adapted to the times.  The characteristics of law firms that lead us to think of a new over-arching image are ones most readers will be familiar with:

• Law firms are flatter than corporations, with fewer layers of administration and management.
• Partners own, and run, the firm in a way that is more democratic but also “messier” than corporate ownership.
• Law firm leaders, because of the ownership issues, often require different skill sets than corporate command-and-control leaders.
• The professional motivation, and career advancement issues, of lawyers are simply different than for corporate employees.

The new image that has been suggested is the Lattice.  If we compare the ladder model with the lattice model we quickly see some essential differences:

Ladder Model

• Hierarchical structure
• Top-down authority
• Linear, vertical career paths
• Work is a place you go to
• Separation of career and life
• Tasks define the job

Lattice Model

• Flatter, often matrixed structure
• Distributed authority
• Multidirectional career paths
• Work is what you do
• Integration of career and life
• Competencies define the job

It is not coincidental that these ideas have been proposed by Cathy Benko, the Chief Talent Officer at Deloitte which is a global professional services firm.  Their need to attract and engage young, educated professionals is not dissimilar to those of many law firms; “The Corporate Lattice” is Benko’s second book, a prequel of sorts to her first book about a similar topic, “Mass Career Customization.

In future blogs, I will discuss more about how the Lattice Model contributes to a more robust professional organization.  For now, I want to discuss one aspect that is top-of-mind for many law firm leaders: employee engagement.  Study after study has shown that high engagement, defined as the commitment people feel toward their job and firm, drive higher profits: earnings are higher, profitability and productivity are higher, turnover is lower, and client satisfaction is higher – and by large degrees.  For knowledge workers and professionals, especially of younger generations, high engagement is the difference between having a job and loving what you do and the firm you work for.  For those leaders wise enough to care about engagement, lattice models provide ways to help people build their careers flexibly, develop team-based, competency-driven work opportunities, and create and enable more collaborative work.  In future posts, I will discuss more of the whys-and-hows of creating a lattice culture in your firm.