That’s the title of an article in this month’s Chess Life magazine. The sub-title is, “The dangers of delving too deeply into one particular variation”.
The article is an examination of a botched game by a strong player, a game that might have been awarded a brilliancy prize but for the player’s errors occasioned by following one idea too far and losing the central theme of the game.
What does this have to do with practicing law? Everything.
Because lawyers (and other very smart people) often do what this Grandmaster did. They focus too much on the details, the minutia of a case or an issue, and sometimes lose a won game.
I’ve done it. I’m sure you can think of times when you’ve done it, getting lost in researching an issue to the nth degree, perhaps, making a big deal about a small point.
You see it during oral argument when the judge or jurors eyes glaze over and you know they’re didn’t follow your last point, or no longer care.
You see it in marketing. You get bogged down in choosing better keywords or creating better funnels, months go by and thousands of dollars have been spent and you find you could have gotten better results with something simpler.
You see it in a lot of websites. A would-be client visits, hoping to learn something about his problem and what you can do to help him and is confronted by a library of information. There’s too much to read, he doesn’t know where to start, so he leaves.
(NB: keep the library but hide it and link to it for those who want more information.)
We see it in presentations where we try to make too many points and leave no stone unturned and we simply confuse the audience (and a confused mind says no).
What should we do? We should periodically stand down from business as usual, put aside all the small stuff and focus on the big picture.
The strategy, not the technique. The main argument, not the “Hail Mary” we throw in just in case.
You started practicing with a few simple ideas and you did okay. If you’ve found yourself getting off track lately, a return to fundamentals might be just what you need to reset and revitalize your practice.
It might even earn you the brilliancy prize.
The Attorney Marketing Formula can help you get back on track
