Attack IS the best form of defence
England’s World Cup defeat on Wednesday sparked the inevitable post-match inquest.
Were Thomas Tuchel’s tactics too cautious? Did England retreat too early? Should they have kept attacking rather than trying to protect what they had?
I’ll leave the detailed analysis to people who understand inverted full-backs, low blocks and why everyone suddenly needs a touchscreen in the dugout.
But the debate reminded me of something I see regularly in professional services.
A firm wins a major pitch, secures a coveted panel appointment or gets ahead of its revenue target. Then, instead of asking how it can build on that success, it starts trying to protect it.
We stop playing to win and start playing not to lose. That may feel safer. It rarely creates much momentum.
Here are three things to think about to maintain an attacking mindset. Enjoy.
#1. Winning guarantees you exactly zero
Winning a place on a client panel feels like a major victory. Champagne is opened. Congratulatory emails are circulated. Someone updates the website before the ink is dry.
There is only one small problem. A panel appointment guarantees you exactly zero work. It gives you permission to compete. It does not give you instructions.
The same applies to winning a pitch or completing a brilliant first matter. That success creates an opportunity, but every subsequent piece of work still has to be earned.
The firms that get the greatest value from panel appointments do not sit back and wait for the phone to ring. They map the relevant stakeholders, understand how work is allocated, identify quick wins and give the client reasons to engage.
Winning gets you onto the pitch. It does not put any points on the board.
Try this: If you have recently secured a panel appointment, ask: “If this client gave us no work for the next three months, what would we proactively do to change that?”
#2. Don’t defend your pipeline
This is a particularly easy trap to fall into when things are going well. The pipeline looks healthy. Everyone is busy. Revenue is on target. Perhaps even finance has stopped sending those slightly ominous emails.
So, networking gets cancelled. LinkedIn goes quiet. Client coffees are postponed. Business development is pushed into the mythical period known as “when things calm down”.
Of course, things rarely calm down.
Being busy today is not a strategy for remaining busy six months from now. By the time the pipeline starts looking thin, it is usually too late to rebuild it quickly.
The best rainmakers keep attacking even when they are ahead. They know that tomorrow’s instructions are created long before today’s matters have finished.
Try this: Protect one hour for business development every week, regardless of how busy you are. Treat it like a client meeting, because that is exactly what it may become.
#3. Standing still is often the biggest risk
Playing safe feels sensible.
You avoid embarrassing mistakes. Nobody gets blamed for an experiment that failed. There is no awkward conversation with the management board.
Unfortunately, while you are busy avoiding risk, your competitors may be testing new services, experimenting with AI, introducing clients to useful contacts and finding better ways to deliver value.
Not every attacking move will work. Some will disappear over the bar and into Row Z.
But momentum rarely comes from waiting until an idea is completely safe, perfectly polished and approved by seventeen different committees.
It comes from taking small, intelligent risks and learning quickly.
Try this: Identify one idea your team has been discussing for at least six months but has still not tested. Shrink it into a small experiment and get it moving this week.
Chat to Tina by voice, when you’re between meetings, on the commute to/from work, or heading into something you’d rather avoid.
Final whistle
Football and professional services are not quite the same.
For one thing, most client meetings contain fewer people pretending to be injured.
But the psychology is remarkably similar.
Once you have something worth protecting, the instinct is to become more defensive. The danger is that you stop doing the things that put you ahead in the first place.
Protect your relationships. Protect your reputation. Protect the quality of your work.
But keep attacking.
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