The Odd Couple’s  Felix Ungar was a neurotic perfectionist neat freak who fussed and bothered about everything. His roommate Oscar was a slob. The two loved each other (friends) but drove each other crazy.
If Felix ran your practice, some good things would happen. Every document would be checked and rechecked before it was filed or mailed. Every document would be backed up (“in triplicate”). Every piece of software and equipment would be up to date. Your desktop would be tidy and dusted, and so would the desktop on your computer.
Your firm would operate efficiently. But eventually, Felix would drive you and your staff crazy, not just with the fussing and tidying but with continual changes in management, operations, and marketing.
Continually changing your forms or procedures, for example, requires continual re-training. There would be daily memos and weekly meetings where the latest micro changes were rolled out.
The employee handbook doesn’t need to be updated every week. The bookcases don’t need to be dusted every day.
Continual changes to your website layout, checklists, forms, intake and file-closing procedures can confuse and frustrate your staff and clients.
You don’t want your practice run by Oscar Madison, of course. He would tolerate too much clutter and disorder. Software would be updated “whenever”. Too many things would slip through the cracks.
You need to try new things and keep old things in working order. But just as the law looks to the reasonable man standard, so should you in the management of your practice.
Felix and Oscar were both well-meaning but neither could have been considered reasonable.
