Second only to the Word of GOD, your most valuable asset…is TIME. How effectively you manage your time, will greatly impact your personal and business success. How you spend the most productive hours in your day managing the resources available to you, will determine (to a great degree), whether or not you will successfully accomplish your goals and objectives. Success requires THREE critical components:
FIRST – You Need a Strategic & Tactical “Process”:
To Define – the Specific Objectives You Want to Achieve.
To Strategically Identify, Plan and List – all goals, ensuring they align with your stated objectives.
To Tactically Identify, Prioritize, and Assign – all tasks related to each goal.
To Daily Monitor the Progress – of each stated goal, objective, and task; then make any necessary adjustments needed to move forward and ensure success.
To Time-block Your Schedule – to ensure ALL tasks are completed related to each goal and objective.
SECOND – You Need a Strategic & Tactical “Solution”:
That Unites – the forementioned strategic and tactical attributes listed above.
That Applies – “Best Practices” processes and procedures.
That is Independent – of your organizations’ operating software platforms.
That Generates a High ROI – on your Business Management & Growth solution, year-after-year.
That Provides You with Peace-of-Mind – knowing that you have established and implemented a customized Business Management & Growth solution tailored for you and your organization.
THIRD – The Solution You Need is Called “TAP”:
TAP– is a Tactical Action Plan designed to meet all the forementioned requirements listed above to help you strategically and tactically manage and grow your business.
TAP– Is NOT a matter management nor a time & billing system…far from it. (These are merely components of your business operations.)
TAP– Is an independent, powerful, and high-level, business planning and execution platform.
TAP– Combines strategic planning and tactical implementation to help you successfully plan, manage, and grow your law practice or any business like a seasoned CEO.
TAP – Provides the high-level solution needed to effectively streamline, plan, document, and execute all your business objectives…all in one powerful solution.
TAP Applies “Best Practices” processes & procedures to deliver a business solution with a high R.O.I. year after year.
TAP helps you succeed, while providing you with peace-of-mind in the process…
Time is our most valuable and limited asset. Don’t waste any of this precious asset. Be purposeful, disciplined, strategic, and tactical with your time, in both your personal and business life. Get started today by clicking the link below to schedule a free/complimentary/no-sales pressure TAP Demo:
GMS BUSINESS CONSULTING, INC.– Provides lawyers/law firms, for-profit & non-profit organizations, and business professionals with Value-Accounting Services, Business Management & Development Services (utilizing our TAPSolution), Business Optimization Services, and Digital Marketing Services. We help business professionals strategically manage and tactically grow their businesses with a high return on investment and peace of mind. (We do NOT provide investment advice.) Contact Us If you would like to learn more about our services, especially TAP (our high-level Tactical Action Plan Solution), designed to help you strategically and tactically optimize your business. We welcome the opportunity to speak with you.
Today’s post is titled “Perspectives on Artificial Intelligence (AI).” This is a follow-up from our previous post commenting on “Practice Performance Indicators,” written and published in Clio‘s in their Legal Trends Report. Today’s post will highlight some information from Clio’s publication, but we’ll also share with you a few of our own perspectives that we hope will be helpful to you in your A.I. planning and integration.
Nearly 79% of legal professionals have adopted AI in some way.
Clio found that nearly three-quarters (75%) of law firms’ hourly work could be potentially automated by AI, which stands to have a dramatic impact on firm revenues.
Lawyers – 57%
Paralegals – 69%
Administrative Assistants – 81%
In 2023, Goldman Sachs published a study saying that 44% of work tasks performed in the legal industry could be automated by AI, and AI could potentially replace 40% of legal industry employees.
Automation Potential – If a task typically takes 10 hours to complete and has AI automation potential of 50%, a law firm could expect that same task to account for only five hours of billable time.
The American Bar Association’s Formal Opinion 512 on generative artificial intelligence tools states that lawyers may only charge for theactual time spent on tasks (even if AI allows them to perform these tasks faster).” (pg. 21 of the document). So… while some AI efficiencies may result in quicker completion times, however, these efficiencies may not result in higher engagement revenue and profitability; especially if your billing model is hourly based.
THE OPPORTUNITIES:
AI INTEGRATION – From our perspective, we see most early adoptions of AI integration will come from operating software platforms currently being used by lawyers and law firms, or new and improved systems coming online soon.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR AI INTEGRATION – The opportunities are obvious…including Automation and Standardization, Data Analytics and Financial Modeling, as well as Legal and Market Research. All of these integrations should result in streamlining efficiencies in project turnaround and output, resulting in increased profit margins. (There’s a flip-side to this though, and we’ll address this below.)
Automation and Standardization – AI is already being used to standardize and streamline many areas of work-flow production (See areas of application in the Clio’s Report).
Data Analytics& Modeling – AI can dramatically save time with data intensive projects, in terms of speed, analytical accuracy, project efficiencies and turnaround, and overall profitability. Streamlining and standardizing employee time allocation with data intensive projects can enable rapid scenario projections to evaluate. This can result in significant overall project efficiencies and value; so long as the data being used is clean and reliable, and that the algorithms used in the AI modeling are pin-point accurate in their design application.
Market and Legal Research – AI already significantly reduces initial hourly costs associated with both these tasks. AI research can pull from numerous sources in fractions of seconds, with detailed descriptions, far outpacing any Google search could ever produce. While Google queries push titles results with thumbnail descriptions, AI not only sites the sources relevant to your query, but actually summarizes and details each referenced content relevant to the query presented. This can save many HOURS of research investigation time versus what a Google query provides. This is the power AI research can deliver. THAT SAID, the AI sources and the integrity of their content must be verified and evaluated for biases, relevance, and accuracy. Many sources we have personally encountered in our own research queries resulted in some biases, as the AI models are programmed by human beings. So, be careful to phrase your queries precisely to better focus the AI deliverables, then verify the results presented.
Speed of Workflow and Deliverables – These AI efficiencies should enable lawyers/law firms to leverage their time and resources to streamline project completions, and free up more time to take on additional clients OR reduce employee workloads (hours spent at the office physically or remotely) and costs. This all sounds great, but AT WHAT COST?
AI integration may improve many efficiencies; however, these efficiencies may also result in reduced revenue “if” your practice is hourly based, and “if” you don’t increase the number of clientele to offset the streamlined efficiencies that result in reduced billings.
AI Integration may potentially reduce staffing expenses, but once again, at what cost? How much do your staffers directly and indirectly support you and your clients’ needs that are essential, yet not billable? Who or how will you manage the practice support needs if you’re laying off staffers? If you think you can load more work onto your existing staff who are likely at their maximum workload, you may want to reevaluate each of these factors. Staffing refinements will need to be strategically and tactically evaluated and adjusted accordingly to minimize the unforeseen negative human capital consequences versus perceived AI integration efficiencies.
PERSPECTIVES:
A KEY STATISTICAL POINT:
We believe the first statistical point listed above, sums-up a VERY important point that we believe you should play close attention to…the point being: “We found that nearly three-quarters (75%) of law firms’ hourly work could be potentially automated by AI, which stands to have a dramatic impact on firm revenues.” (All billing models will be effected…but to different degrees.)
HOW AI CAN POSSIBLY IMPACT YOUR REVENUES:
AI automation can ultimately result in spending less time on a case tasks (cost savings), right? However, this may also result in the firm having LESS billable hours.
As stated in the above section: “the American Bar Association’s Formal Opinion 512 on generative artificial intelligence tools states that lawyers may only charge for theactual time spent on tasks (even if AI allows them to perform these tasks faster). So, depending on your billing model, revenues can be impacted significantly.
WHAT ARE YOUR OPTIONS:
FIRST – You can make a “Quality of Life” decision to implement AI in strategic operating components of your practice to increase workflow efficiencies (that will reduce hourly work demands and costs), resulting in working less hours per day/week/and month in a year. Doing so could result in a reduced hourly workload that “may” result in a higher quality professional and personal life. However, this is dependent on one’s professional and personal financial goals and objectives, AND so long as those goals DON’T CONFLICT with the Firm’s goals and objectives for you as an employee!
SECOND – In order to maintain your current profitability using AI, and to position yourself for future revenue growth (personal/firm revenue growth), you’ll have to make a choice:
Either take onadditional clients, which would require additional resources such as business development, matter management support, and additional human capital in order to continue producing high quality deliverables (that client’s would expect), in a timely, efficient, and cost-effective manner. Or…
Raise your chargeable fees to recoup lost hourly billings resulting from AI Automation (which may or may not be possible), if your competition is substantial and clients are willing to pay you higher fees. REMEMBER…”Cost is an issue in the absence of value.” Or lastly…
Modify your billing model (if possible) to a “Value-Based” model, “Fixed-Fee” model or a hybrid thereof. This may not be as easy nor as predictable to do, depending on your line of practice, and the complexities of your client matters. That said, each practice line will need to evaluate these factors carefully as they consider the depth and breadth of implementing AI into their practice.
CONCLUSION:
AI is here to stay, and improvements will be made, but it is not perfected yet! However, we should all keep in mind a broader perspective on AI and its application. We need to assess the value and risks AI implementation can have on both a personal and professional level. AI is a relatively new technology with many great possibilities, but don’t make the mistake of jumping on the technological bandwagon by making quick implementation decisions. At GMS Business Consulting, Inc., we always recommend to strategically plan and tactically identify the areas of your practice that can significantly benefit from immediate implementation. At the same time, you must evaluate the potential risks and rewards to your practice, your client service and deliverables, and the overall benefits to your firm. Administrative areas of your practice needing streamlining may be a good starting point. But take it one step at a time, and measure each AI implementation’s impact, both positive and negative.
Understand that AI incorporates mathematical algorithms that are designed by human beings. Humans have natural biases that may impact AI results. You need to always evaluate and measure the AI deliverables. Trusting is not enough…you MUST verify that the results are objectively produced and without biases. This is particularly important while utilizing AI in ANY type of research being conducted. While testing AI output, our experience has regularly identified biased production of research data results and programming output depending on how we wrote or defined our requests, AND depending on the sources the AI model pulled from versus other sources we identified on our own research.
As mentioned earlier, AI can also be fantastic at performing data analytics and financial modeling. However, keep in mind using AI in these tasks should be highly scrutinized, as the results AI presents should be accurate and unbiased. This can only happen if you’re assured that you’re using reliable, scrubbed, and clean data. If you put bad data in, you’ll get bad data back. Again, good results will be dependent on the accuracy of your queries, and the relevant accuracy of the sources of the data used or pulled from.
Lastly, we believe the more we rely on AI to perform our work, the lazier we may become in using our own cognitive thinking and reasoning skills. At this point in time, and until further testing is made, we would rather err on the side of thoughtful consideration of AI implementation and by using our own intellect, education, and experience rather than being conditioned by public opinion that may nudge us blindly and lazily to follow the newest breed of technology. We always recommend to strategically plan and tactically execute ALL AI considerations and implementation on a methodical and systematic basis to evaluate each components potential of effectiveness. We recommend proceeding forward when considering AI implementation, but do so in a cautious and measured process of evaluation. Don’t get caught up prematurely in the hype. We hope this post gives you pause for thoughtful consideration.
GMS BUSINESS CONSULTING, INC.– Provides lawyers/law firms, for-profit & non-profit organizations, and business professionals with Value-Accounting Services, Business Management & Development Services (utilizing our TAPSolution), Business Optimization Services, and Digital Marketing Services. We help business professionals strategically manage and tactically grow their businesses with a high return on investment and peace of mind. (We do NOT provide investment advice.) Contact Us If you would like to learn more about our services, especially TAP, our high-level Tactical Action Plan Solution, designed to help you strategically and tactically optimize your business. We welcome the opportunity to speak with you.
Hello everyone, today’s post centers on a Practice Performance Indicators (PPI’s) that we believe, reveals significant portions of the overall financial health for both large and small law firms. At GMS Business Consulting, Inc. we constantly monitor and evaluate specific PPI’s on an a regular basis to measure our client’s adherence to their TAP (Tactical Action Plan) and their profitability objectives. We recently reviewed a Legal Trends Report produced by Clio (the legal industry software platform focused on Matter Management and Time & Billings).
While this report predominantly focuses a majority of its attention on AI’s adoption and utilization within law firm operations (which we’ll address in our next post), one section in particular caught our attention. This section is located on Page 63 of the report, titled “Key Performance Indicators.” These same indicators are among the same ones we track within our TAP solution for our clients. See the chart below, and click the image to go to the Clio Report:
Three Performance Indicators
These three specific indicators are identified as the “Utilization Rate“, “Realization Rate“, and the “Collection Rate“, and are expressed as a percentage of an 8-hour workday. These indicators breakdown the hourly revenue efficiencies or inefficiencies for each individual lawyer and for the law firm as a whole, to measure their overall earnings performance, effectiveness, and financial health. Project these numbers over a weekly, monthly, and annual basis without addressing the issues behind the numbers can be destructive to your practice line and to the firm. The results that Clio published, are very consistent with our experience over the years working with law firms. The question for the lawyers reading this post is, “Do these numbers reflective my situation?“
How We Can Help
The good news is.. that each of these three indicators can be corrected. If your chargeability Utilization, Realization or Collection rates are below 90%, then we can help you with our TAP solution. This situation is VERY common in the legal industry. However, it can be fixed if properly addressed, monitored, and evaluated with the appropriate tools and coaching. We can provide that support…
If your chargeability Utilization, Realization or Collection rates are at the 90% or above threshold, we commend you! That said, even if all three indicator rates are above 90%, we are still very confident there are other areas within your law practice that can be optimized to improve your effectiveness, efficiency, and profitability through our TAP solution. Click HERE to learn more about our TAP solution…
We hope you find this post to be thought provoking, insightful, and helpful to you and your law practice. Contact Us if we can be of service or if you simply have any questions. We wish you a very happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year.
About Us
GMS BUSINESS CONSULTING, INC.– Provides lawyers/law firms, for-profit & non-profit organizations, and business professionals with Value-Accounting Services, Business Management & Development Services (utilizing our TAPSolution), Business Optimization Services, and Digital Marketing Services. We help business professionals strategically manage and tactically grow their businesses with a high return on investment and do so with peace of mind. (We do NOT provide investment advice.) Contact Us if you would like to learn more about our services, especially TAP, our high-level Tactical Action Plan Solution, designed to help you strategically and tactically optimize your business. We would welcome the opportunity to speak with you.
So, today’s post is, “Is your Law Practice Optimized?” This post will guide you through a critical thought process to evaluate and optimize your readiness in addressing your Law Firm’s present and future business challenges and opportunities, using a high-level (CEO/Managing Partner level – Practice Management Planning Solution), that we simply refer to as a Practice Optimization Solution. To assess if your firm is strategically optimized, consider the following questions:
1: Do you currently have in place, a high-level (CEO/Managing Partner level), Practice Optimization Solution in place that helps you strategically plan and tactically manage and optimize ALL key aspects of your business?
2: Does your high-level Practice Optimization Solution help you “strategically” plan, document, and manage all your firm’s strategic objectives? Does it help you “tactically” prioritize and implement your objectives, while actively manage accountability with others? Does your current solution help you actively manage your organizational growth objectives, while monitoring your progress and effectiveness in ALL key aspects of your business? We know it’s a mouthful…but if you don’t have a Practice Optimization Solution like this in place, why not?
3: If you do have such a plan in place, is your high-levelPractice Optimization Solution platform “independent” from your firm’s operational software platforms? If not…why not?
If you don’t have an independent high-level Practice Optimization Solution in place, the utility value and high R.O.I. is worth consideration. The benefits of having such a powerful solution in place cannot be overstated, especially one that remains independent from your daily operational software platforms. Why is this important? Consider these three points:
KEY CONSIDERATIONS:
FIRST CONSIDERATION – A high-level Practice Optimization Solution ought to function independently from the daily operational software platforms currently utilized within your business. We hold the conviction that utilizing such a powerful management planning solution independently from other software platforms is crucial for strategic planning, tactical implementation, active management, and performance monitoring across the entire organization. Why? Because most law firm (and general businesses for that matter) software solutions are “Operational Components” to the business. While Operational Component software is extremely important to the daily operations of the practice, they DO NOT serve as a “CentralizedStrategic Practice Management Command and Control Center” for ALL strategic & tactical planning and management of the business. The next point explains why…
SECOND CONSIDERATION – If you did have such a high-level Practice Optimization Solution in place that was not independent of your operational component platforms, component replacement would not be possible, and this could negatively impact your business operationally and financially. What has become commonplace over the past two decades is the attractiveness of having “turn-key” solutions. We recognize there are scenarios and operational advantages where turn-key solutions can be very beneficial in daily operations (such as Matter Management systems integrated with Time and Billing systems integrated with Payment Collection services, etc.). “Turn-key” solutions often present significant operational and utility value for a law firm, making sound business sense until they fail to meet performance expectations. Turn-key solutions might present more challenges and potential risks if your needs or expectations change (which is often the case) or if operational components of the software fail to meet your needs or expectations. This could lead to the perilous inability of substituting non-performing operational software components for best-in-class components. The inability to substitute nonperforming or underperforming operational components can also become extremely expensive and disruptive to staff performance and client deliverables. This could ultimately have a negative and measurable impact on your financial results.
THIRD CONSIDERATION – While the operational software component integrations are valuable for the daily business operations of your law practice, they are not substitutes for high-level strategic and tactical management planning solutions. If your high-level Practice Optimization Solution resides within your “turn-key” operational software platform, replacing underperforming components within the platform, will not be feasible, and as previously mentioned, this could ultimately have a significant negative impact on your practice productivity and financial results. For these reasons, we believe keeping the high-level Practice Optimization Solution independent from your operational software platforms will keep your strategic planning in an optimized position.
ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS:
The high-level Practice Optimization Solution under discussion, should encompass not just the administrative and operational facets of your Law Firm, but in all areas of your business including: Human Resources, Technology, Data Security, Artificial Intelligence, Business Growth, Sales & Marketing, Business Interruption, and Business Succession Planning to name a few. Should your existing high-level Practice Optimization Solution fail to cover all these aspects (or other areas), and should you desire to have an independent Practice Optimization Solution as outlined above, your search ends here…
THE SOLUTION:
GMS Business Consulting, Inc. has developed a high-level Practice Optimization Solution called TAP. It’s a powerful Tactical Action Plan that may be exactly what you need to strategically optimize your Law Firm or practice. When you have a high-level Practice Optimization Solution in place like TAP, you’ll position your Law Firm to gain a high Return on Investment, and you’ll experience Peace of Mind. To learn more about TAP…OR… to schedule a Free/ No-Hassle/ No-Sales Pitch TAP Demo, simply click one of the buttons below:
We hope this post has been informative and helps you in selecting and implementing a high-level Practice Management Planning Solution like TAP, to ensure that your law Firm is strategically optimized. When your Law Firm is strategically optimized, you’ll position your Firm for a high Return On Investment, and you’ll gain peace of mind…
GMS BUSINESS CONSULTING, INC.– Provides lawyers/law firms, for-profit & non-profit organizations, and business professionals with Value-Accounting Services, Business Management & Development Services (utilizing our TAPSolution), Business Optimization Services, and Digital Marketing Services. We help business professionals strategically manage and tactically grow their businesses with a high return on investment and peace of mind. (We do NOT provide investment advice.) Contact Us If you would like to learn more about our services, especially TAP, our high-level Tactical Action Plan Solution, designed to help you strategically and tactically optimize your business. We would welcome the opportunity to speak with you.
Hello Everyone, we wanted to share a perspective with you on the Russian-Ukrainian war. Most of us have heard the widely accepted narrative on this war from the mainstream media and global government leaders for the past few months. We know Putin invaded the Ukraine, that’s a fact…but why? Is it that Putin wants to expand across eastern Europe and regain the former U.S.S.R.’s geographic boundaries? Or could it be that he simply wants to protect Russia’s borders? What’s the truth behind this?
As we all know (or at least we should all know), there are always two sides to every story. The two sides may not be equal, non the less, there are still two sides. In either case, we believe we have only heard one side. More and more, we are seeing and hearing global narratives that are shaping the thoughts, minds, perspectives, and policies of the world. Usually, it’s the people who suffer for the poor leadership of government leaders. So this begs the question…Is the current narrative “truth”? That’s what we at GMS and our readers and clients are always in search of…truth. We certainly don’t claim to know all the answers on various topics, but we do pride ourselves on considering alternative viewpoints and take them into consideration before arriving at a conclusion on any topic of importance. Thus, we are always willing to consider alternate perspectives especially when they deviate from the common, agreed upon narrative. Before we go further, please understand this point: Let us (GMS) state emphatically, that we are NOT supporters of either Putin nor Zelensky or war. War is brutal, ugly, and costly in all respects. We also believe in most cases, war can be avoided with strong, competent diplomacy backed by decisive, strategic and tactical military action (only if absolutely necessary). Unfortunately, we haven’t witnessed any competent level of diplomacy for many decades.
So let me ask you a question…Are you searching for “truth” or simply seeking information to back your personal conviction or inclination regarding the war in the Ukraine? So, we challenge you to open your mind to alternative sources and positions that may differ from what current government officials and the mainstream media are propagating. It’s a tough soul-searching question that all of us need to ask ourselves regarding any important issue. All we’re encouraging our readers to do, is to watch the following interviews and discussions below, then give some critical thought as to their informational content and perspective they present. Then, weigh it against what you have been hearing or listening to over the past year:
That said…we too (like many of you) are becoming increasingly skeptical of what global governments are presenting as “truth” on many topics of importance. This is especially true when they speak on a unified basis without transparency of open discussion and debate, rather, opting for censorship or cancelling any person opposed to their narrative. This became especially heightened to us when the mainstream media echoed the same message without independent, transparent, in-depth research, and a willingness to look at alternative viewpoints regarding the covid pandemic. What happened? The high-tech social media platforms took it upon themselves to violate every American’s constitutional right to freedom of speech…simply because they disagreed with another’s position, prevalent narrative, or corporate policy (at the expense of violating our constitutional right).
Could this also be the case regarding the Russian-Ukrainian war? We’ve shared a few perspectives with you that do not follow the mainstream media nor with global government leaders narrative. We’re not saying they’re correct in their stated positions, just that they simply should be allowed to be heard and considered in order for us to have a more complete understanding of an issue of such great importance, so that we can make better informed decisions rather than simply following the current narrative like sheeple into making poor policy decisions. The question you have to ask yourselves (each of us) is, are you willing to consider alternative perspectives? Or do you simply trust and comply with the mainstream narrative being pushed by global leaders and news sources as truth? We always encourage our readers to do their own homework and research. Listen to the above referenced interviews and compare them to what you’ve already heard. Get better informed…Listen to both sides of an issue. Then, make up your own mind…and come to a better balanced and informed conclusion.
GMS BUSINESS CONSULTING, INC.– Provides lawyers/law firms, for-profit & non-profit organizations, and business professionals with Accounting Services, Business Development Services (M.A.P.), Business Optimization Services, and Digital Marketing Services. We help business professionals strategically manage and tactically grow their businesses more effectively and efficiently. We do NOT provide investment advice. Contact Us if you are interested in learning more about our services, and in particular about M.A.P.(our 3-phase business development & management solution), designed to help you strategically manage and tactically grow your business. We would welcome the opportunity to speak with you.
Bitcoin’s Sustainability…Yes or No? Is it possible? Does it make sense? Does it make sense to place so much time, capital, and resources into crypto currencies like Bitcoin (and others on Blockchain technology) that require extensive consumption of energy, that lack transactional performance and efficiency, are costly on both sides, and have security vulnerabilities? It appears to us, that these are some of the inherent risks with crypto currencies built with blockchain technology versus “hashgraph” technology. See these comparative charts of the top two blockchain crypto’s built on Blockchain technology versus Hedera’s Hashgraph technology and their crypto currency “HBAR” (CHART #1 and CHART #2).
Many proponents of Bitcoin and hundreds of other crypto currencies proclaim the benefits of these crypto’s, in that they provide a financial solution of decentralization and independence from the control of central banks and the current global financial system. Sounds like it would be a good thing, right? But is that even possible? Is it practical? And if it is, at what cost? Is it even possible to replace the current global financial system with hundreds of different crypto’s currently in the crypto world, each lacking the forementioned performance attributes and capacities (refer to the charts above) required to effectively and efficiently replace the global financial system?
Does it make sense to move from a centralized global financial system that is rapidly becoming evermore streamlined and centralized (as in the sanctions being used against Russia in the current Ukraine/Russia conflict), and move to a “decentralized” system built on what…a lagging technology such as blockchain that is slow, expensive, and incapable of handling hundreds of transactions let alone the billions of transactions on a daily basis? Perhaps we (GMS) are missing something??? How would this “new” system and all their connectivity systems be used on a practical daily basis…how would it be implemented, regulated, monitored, managed and secured? And by who? Consider this ARTICLE on Bloomberg News. Well…let’s explore a few of these points a little further:
PERSPECTIVES: Is Bitcoin Sustainable?
We believe digital money in place now is and will continue to be the progression of future financial transactions globally. But in what form? Is Bitcoin’s Sustainability and other Blockchain crypto’s for that matter, realistic in today’s digital payments system? We have all become accustomed to purchasing products and services in both physical and online stores by either entering a few keystrokes on the computer, tablet, or smartphone by either tapping or scanning our debit cards/credit cards/or smartphones without the need or use of cash or checks, right? We would also presume that nearly all current fiat currencies in the developed countries and in most under-developed countries are also available in digital form as well (no need to carry cash if that’s your choice). For many years the Central Banks digitally increase and decrease the money supply with book entries, and physically prints just enough cash to sustain our current global cash transactional needs. That said, there are several issues surrounding cryptos, and in particular Bitcoin or any other crypto currency based on blockchain technology that we need to address if we’re going to consider adopting them into our daily lives, and to put our trust and confidence in these platforms. We see five critical issues surrounding the viability of Bitcoin and other crypto’s utilizing Blockchain technology, if they can “reasonably” be expected to drive the future global transactions and financial system. Below are the key challenges that stand out to us:
– POINT #1: Transactional Processing Comparisons:
Simply compare the processing capabilities of Bitcoin and Ethereum (using blockchain technology) versus Hedera’s HBAR (using Hashgraph technology). Once again, please refer to these charts: CHART #1 and CHART #2. The evidence and conclusion is obvious! Bitcoin can effectively handle 3 transactions per second (with finality); Ethereum can process a whopping 12 transactions per second (with finality); and HBAR can handle 10,000 transactions per second with finality (and is fully scalable to handle much, much more). Are we missing something? Or is the world being deceived to place their money in ponzie scheme technology “assets” like Bitcoin and Ethereum? We just ask the simple question…”Why would anyone ever place their confidence in a flawed crypto, like Bitcoin or Ethereum which are both based on yesterday’s technology, blockchain technology?” So is Bitcoin’s Sustainability realistic? Let’s look further…
– POINT #2: Transactional – Fee Comparisons:
Simply compare the transactional costs of Bitcoin and Ethereum versus Hedera’s Hashgraph HBAR crypto. Once again, please refer to these charts: CHART #1 and CHART #2. As you can see, Bitcoin transactional cost come in at $22.57; Ethereum transactional cost comes in at $19.55; and HBAR transactional cost comes in at $.0001. The evidence and conclusion is obvious. Let’s move on to the next point…
– POINT #3: Transactional – Energy Cost Comparisons:
The costs of mining and maintaining Bitcoin and other cryptos using blockchain are substantial, and just don’t make sense to us, ESPECIALLY when producing a more costly yet less efficient, and less secure crypto. Please listen to this VIDEO on Bitcoin mining and energy sourcing. Does this make sense? The energy costs just to mine/produce Bitcoin alone are now becoming evident around the world. Mining companies around the world are actively seeking higher efficient / low carbon footprint energy sources to mine Bitcoin. That’s a respectful objective…to reduce the cost of product input and its carbon footprint on the environment. But how much can Bitcoin, Ethereum and other cryptos built on Blockchain technology realistically reduce their costs when compared to the energy costs of Hedera’s HBAR using Hashgraph technology?
Well, let’s look at the charts once again for a comparison (CHART #1 and CHART #2). Bitcoin energy consumption costs come in at 885 kwh; Ethereum energy consumption costs come in at 102 kwh; and HBAR energy consumption costs come in at .00017 kwh. Need we say more? Are you arriving at the same conclusions we have come to? But there’s more, much more if you’re willing to research for yourselves and not take the words of others at face value. The evidence and conclusion is obvious to us. So again, we ask is Bitcoin’s Sustainability realistic? Next point…
– POINT #4: The IMF/IBS/World Bank Factor:
If you believe there will be an independent financial system free of oversight from the world’s central banking system, then we believe this is a very, very flawed and naïve perspective. Do you really believe the central banking powers of this world will allow a replacement financial system that cuts them out of the equation? Who will regulate the cryptos and the exchanges they’re traded on? Who will oversee regulatory issues on an global level? Which crypto will become the “world crypto currency” to be used for daily transactions from over one thousand cryptos currently in the world today? Bitcoin…Ethereum? Really? Based on the evidence just presented? Do you honestly believe Bitcoin or Ethereum have the technological capabilities and capacities to handle this on a global basis? If so, then I urge you to please refer once again to the two charts listed above. In our opinion, the central banks have been working on their own crypto to be the replacement digital currency.
We also urge you to listen to this brief STATEMENT made by the General Manager from the BIS (the Bank of International Settlement). (Please note: this video was shared by Ms. Catherine Austin Fitts through her newsletter, who in our opinion is one of the most intelligent, thoughtful, strategic, and sincere person we have had the privilege of listening to over the past decade. You can subscribe to her newsletter atThe Solari Reportor search for her interviews on YouTube or other platforms). Ok…getting back on point…We also believe the central banking powers have utilized the private sector to create an atmosphere of crypto competition to design and engineer a best-in-class crypto technology. The most capable technology that emerges from this hi-tech competitive war, will legitimately have the capacity to replace existing fiat currencies globally. Once the global banking authorities have tested these technologies and their capabilities on all fronts and make their decision, then they will introduce this new global crypto currency. We are pretty confident it won’t be Bitcoin or Ethereum or any other crypto currency built on Blockchain technology. Rather we believe the future crypto currency (most likely the CBDC) will be built on the Hashgraph technology platform. We’ll see…we could be wrong, but Hashgraph technology appears to be the only technology available in the marketplace capable of handling the global financial transactional needs. So again, we ask is Bitcoin’s Sustainability realistic?
– POINT #5: A Possible Solution:
Hashgraph technology is engineered by a company called Hedera, and their crypto is called HBAR. Ever heard of it? Most likely not. We encourage you to take a deeper dive into the capabilities behind Hashgraph technology and their founders (Leemon Baird and Mance Harmon of Swirlds and Hedera…the creators and minds behind Hashgraph technology. Based on our research over the years, Hashgraph appears to be the only technology platform solution capable of meeting all the requisite standards to become “the” technology of choice used in the future global financial system. So, how does Hashgraph technology differ from other cryptocurrencies built on Blockchain technology? The following two links are with the co-founder of Hashgraph (Mance Harmon) who will better explain the differences between Blockchain and Hashgraph technologies than I can do within this post: Link #1 and Link #2.
Question…So why have most people not heard of Hashgraph technology and their crypto called HBAR? In our opinion, while others have hit social media platforms with a frenzy to promote their “crypto du jour” for get rich quick schemes via short-term trading, Hedera’s strategy on the other hand is built as a serious mathematical, engineering, and technology solution to a very complex challenge. In contrast to other crypto’s including Bitcoin and Ethereum, Hedera has engineered their technology platform from the bottom up. It is designed to be a viable technology solution to solve the future digital global financial transactional needs and challenges AND…incorporates a Global Governing Council to oversee its future utilization. Hashgraph is specifically designed on best in class, mathematics and software engineering that solves the deficiencies that current platforms cannot (like blockchain), and is capable of meeting the ever growing and complex needs of individuals, businesses, and governments globally. Once again, we urge you to visit their websites (Hedera and Swirlds), and you can also refer to our earlier posts on Bitcoin versus Hashgraph by clicking HERE.
CONCLUSION: Is Bitcoin Sustainable?
In conclusion, we believe the frantic Bitcoin price rise is largely based on a presumed “value” by a segment of the public. So the question is; is Bitcoin’s value one of the best Ponzi schemes of the 21st century or is it legitimately a store of “value”? We don’t know the final answer to that. All we can say, is when a crypto…a “technology asset” such as Bitcoin or Ethereum, are based on an inferior technology platform like Blockchain, that it is costly to produce, that it is costly for consumers to transact, and that it is “produced” from a highly inefficient environmental perspective, and that it has security vulnerabilities, why would anyone place any real “value” on it other than for pure speculative purposes? That’s the question we should all ask ourselves.
Sure, if we were speculative traders, I would have loved the opportunity to buy Bitcoin years ago, and sell at today’s price…who wouldn’t? But that’s not the point. The point we’re trying to understand and to share with our readers is…Is there real intrinsic value and sustainability in Bitcoin and these other crypto’s built on Blockchain technology or not? Is it really a store of value? If so, what is their value based on? Does it produce anything…anything of real benefit? Is there real value in Bitcoin or these other crypto’s because other financial experts or celebrities are getting on the bandwagon of something they really don’t understand? Have they been sold a bag of social media hype and promotion that is costly and inefficient? Or…Could they be right and they understand something we don’t? Could we perhaps be missing something and be wrong? Perhaps…but we don’t think so given the data available. We’re always willing to consider new, relevant, viable data that could change our perspectives. However, after nearly four years of research, we keep coming to the same conclusions over and over again because there is no other compelling evidence (not opinions) that we’ve been presented with to change our perspectives. We keep asking ourselves the same questions about Bitcoin and nearly all the other crypto’s…what is their intrinsic value?
In closing, let me ask you this, if Bitcoin or any other crypto (except for HBAR) were valued at$1 or $500 or $500,000 (instead of $40,000 at the time of this post), how would you understand or describe their intrinsic value? Would their utility value be any different? Based on what? We understand the total amount of Bitcoin is fixed and cannot be increased…so what? Does that mean if you have only 21 million rocks of a particular mineral makeup, that therefore those rocks have a store of value? Perhaps it does to those who may collect rocks…they may value those rocks. But what about those people who don’t place any value on those rocks because there is no utility value of the rocks themselves nor in the minerals that can be extracted from those rocks? That’s where our understanding of Bitcoin and nearly all the other crypto currencies we have researched, with the exception of Hedera’s HBAR (because it can solve the issues centered on digitizing financial transactions utilizing a crypto currency.
We believe Bitcoin and many other crypto’s are priced in the market today by supply and demand based on short-term trading hype, mainstream media and social media hype promoting Ponzi-like speculative assets that have little or no realistic or practical utility or intrinsic value. We understand…people have become rich, filthy rich trading these cryptos, no doubt (kudo’s to them)! There are some very rich people that have become tremendously wealthy trading these. Our concern or issue isn’t centered on those people, rather to better understand “why” would anyone place any value on a technology tool or product that has not intrinsic or utility value. Our concern also being expressed is for the everyday person who may get swayed into pouring their life savings or a significant portion of their retirement assets into these so-called digital “assets” (that in our understanding have no real value), and they lose everything they have or a significant portion of their nest egg.
We also want to say, we do believe there are some genuine crypto engineers and software developers who are honestly striving to engineer better financial solutions to our current fiat currency system. We applaud them for that! But at the end of the day, they must provide value…not just short-term hyped trading value. But in our opinion, the crypto currencies available in today’s market place that are built on Blockchain technology have three significant challenges facing them:
Most Cryptos are Utilizing an Inferior Technology – that are incapable of handling the vast amount of financial transactions on a global basis efficiently, that is cost effective to produce and transact, and are highly secure.
The Influence of the IMF/BIS World Bank/Central Banks – If you believe the global financial powers of the world (the IMF/BSI/World Bank and Central Banks) will relinquish control of the future financial system to a decentralized platform of crypto currencies controlled by individuals…then we respectfully disagree. Again, take a listen to what the General Manager of the BIS says about crypto currencies HERE.
Most Importantly…The Word of GOD – In the Bible, God tells us in Revelation 13:11-18 that there will come a time in the near future (based on bible prophecy timelines), when those who do not have the mark of the beast cannot buy or sell… If you’re a believer and follow the Word of God, think this through for just a moment… This means that a future global financial system MUST be in place in order to enforce this, right? This financial system therefore would likely be built on a “centralized” platform so that buying or selling can be enforced…not on a “decentralized” platform, right? This centralized platform must also be capable of executing transactions or cutting off an individual’s access to their financial assets on a global basis in real time, right? The global financial system therefore, cannot be built on hundreds of decentralized cryptos or on a crypto that can only process a handful of transactions per second. The global financial system therefore, would likely need to be be built on a centralized system that must be capable of handling the billions of individual, business and government financial transactions globally on a daily basis. Would you agree?
We also believe the evidence demonstrates that Blockchain technology cannot be the technology utilized because the future currency/crypto currency that would likely be used, must therefore be capable of handling all the banking and financial transactions on a global basis. Why? Because it can’t handle the transactional volume, it isn’t cost-effective on both sides, it isn’t energy efficient, and it isn’t secure enough to meet the global financial system’s needs. So what other technology is currently available to meet the global needs on a daily basis? Based on our research, we believe the technology most likely to be utilized would be Hashgraph technology. So…we come back to the same question from the beginning; Is Bitcoin sustainable…Yes or No? Can it go higher in price? Sure it can as long as there are people who believe it has value! But ask yourselves…value based on what? Speculative demand or real intrinsic or utility value? Only time will tell, but in the meantime we just wanted to cautiously present data and perspectives that we have found to be compelling. After viewing the comparative data presented and the challenges for Bitcoin and Blockchain based crypto’s, we ask you this question…do you believe Bitcoin’s Sustainability is realistic?
The conclusions we have reached (as of today’s posting date), leads us to our forestated conclusions. That said, we are always open to new insights, perspectives and ideas based on sound, proven, verified data. Then, once presented with this evidence, we are certainly willing to update or modify our positions when presented with undisputable evidence…not by social media hype, financial pundit hype or Wall Street hype. Until next time, and as we always state in our posts, do your own homework, then make your own informed conclusions and decisions…
GMS BUSINESS CONSULTING, INC. – Provides lawyers/law firms, for-profit & non-profit organizations, and business professionals with Accounting Services, Business Development Services (M.A.P.), Business Optimization Services, and Digital Marketing Services. We help business professionals strategically manage and tactically grow their businesses more effectively and efficiently. We do NOT provide investment advice. Contact Us if you are interested in learning more about our services, and in particular about M.A.P.(our 3-phase business development & management solution), designed to help you strategically manage and tactically grow your business. We would welcome the opportunity to speak with you.
Effective Monitoring & Evaluation is the final point of discussion in Part-3 (of our 3-Part series) of posts centered on establishing and implementing an effective Master Action Plan (M.A.P.). As you may recall, Part-1 focused on Strategic Planning, and Part-2 focused on Tactical Execution & Management. All three segments are essential components to the overall success of your M.A.P. As mentioned in our previous post, the three stages of an effective Master Action Plan include:
PART-1 – Strategic Planning
PART-2 – Tactical Execution & Management
PART-3 – Effective Monitoring & Evaluation
OVERVIEW:
Regardless of ones title or position in a firm, most of us will at some point have limited to extensive management oversight and responsibility. It is therefore necessary to apply effective monitoring and evaluation tools and techniques within a Master Action Plan in order to effectively monitor and evaluate progress. Whether it be a sole practitioner, Associate, Partner or an Office Managing Partner, effective monitoring and evaluation must take place. It becomes MOST CRITICAL, if you have management oversight over employees and/or over practice operations and its’ overall success; effective monitoring and evaluation of progress is essential.
Caution on Information Overload
That said, at GMS we have found that in today’s digital world, we are often times overwhelmed with data, data and more data. When it comes to effective monitoring and evaluation our progress, often times the software we use produces such immense amounts of data, that it can also become too granular for our specific needs. This can often result in that age-long saying that “We can’t see the forest through the trees”. We then risk becoming locked into becoming micromanagers in terms of data evaluation and management, when in fact we may also need to be macro managers as well. This is where the challenge of merging or balancing these two functions becomes both art and science.
HOW TO:
Effective Monitoring & Evaluation
Each Master Action Plan (M.A.P.) should be standardized in terms of establishing parameters for goals and objectives, yet be designed to meet the specific needs of each intended user, and to provide management with effective monitoring and oversight. For example, Summary pages may be utilized to provide management with just enough information to measure the resulting effectiveness and progress of those he/she has responsibility for in terms of management oversight and mentoring. Yet for the manager’s specific goals and objectives for themselves, their parameters should also be designed to accommodate the appropriate detail they specifically need to effectively monitor and evaluate their own individual progress. As you drill down to the front-line workers, their Master Action Plan should also be designed to accommodate their specific goals and objectives in a more granular fashion, yet have the flexibility built in for any management oversight they may have. So how do you accomplish this balance?
Assess the organization’s need of a Master Action Plan that reflects their vision and goals for the short/medium/and long term.
Assess the vision of the organization in terms of the number and type of staff needed to successfully operate their organization.
Assess each employees specific responsibilities, management oversight, and the goals and objectives they need to achieve in accordance as to how their performance will ultimately be measured.
Assess what information you need to effectively monitor and evaluate others without getting too granular.
Assess what information you need to have, and how it will be monitored and evaluated for YOUR performance.
Combine all the above into a Master Action Plan wish list.
Then begin searching for an existing Master Action Plan that meets your needs or design your own in accordance to the above stated guidelines.
CONCLUSION:
It comes down to three choices
You can research, design and implement your own solution. This is certainly a feasible option, but it also comes at a price too…or
You can research what platforms exist in the marketplace that would meet your needs in terms of: templates, relevance of templates and content to support your business, supported with experienced consulting/ coaching/ and mentoring. This option comes at a price too…
You can consider speaking with us about our M.A.P. solution. You’ll discover what’s included, the pricing, and whether it is the best fit for you and your organization.
This sounds self-serving to say this, but we have designed and provide a Master Action Plan solution that accomplishes all that we have discussed in these past three posts, including: Strategic Planning, Tactical Execution & Management, and Effective Monitoring & Evaluation. We designed our Master Action Plan solution not by accident, rather out of necessity, based on several decades of experience working for national and international business consulting firms, helping businesses and business professionals across various industries on planning how to meet their goals. Quite honestly, we found nothing in the marketplace that comes close to meeting our organization’s needs and the needs of our clients, as the solution we provide (by God’s grace and leadership.). Our solution is called “M.A.P.“…it’s our Master Action Plan. We have specifically designed 6 versions of our M.A.P. solution in order to meet the needs of:
Independent Lawyers
Lawyers within Law Firms (Associates to Partners)
Law Firms (for Managing Partners)
Non-Profit Organizations (Presidents & CEO’s of Schools/Universities/Foundations etc.)
Lastly, keep in mind that having Master Action Plan templates are extremely important, but it’s really only half of the equation for having a successful Master Action Plan. The other half of the equation is found in the quality of experience and the support provided by mentoring/ guiding/ and coaching clients throughout the process. From planning and strategy, to completion and implementation and from monitoring to evaluation. This is how an ordinary business plan becomes a successful, effective and powerful Master Action Plan. We have the M.A.P. solution, and we know every business and business professional has the need of one (whether they realize it or not!). The questions are: 1) Do you see your need of one, and 2) Are you ready for one? So once again, you have three choices…
As we always say, do your own research, if you’d like to…speak with us, great. If not, that’s ok too. Either way, you’ll put yourself in a better position to make a better informed decision… regardless of the choice you make. We’re here to help our clients and prospective clients, not to hassle them. We hope you have found our last three posts to be helpful and insightful.
GMS BUSINESS CONSULTING, INC. – Provides lawyers/law firms, for-profit & non-profit organizations, and other business professionals with Accounting Services, Business Development Services M.A.P., Business Optimization Services, and Digital Marketing Services. We help business professionals strategically manage and tactically grow their businesses more effectively and efficiently. We do NOT provide investment advice. Contact Us if you are interested in learning more about our services, and in particular about M.A.P.(our 3-phase business development & management solution), designed to help you strategically manage and tactically grow your business. We would welcome the opportunity to speak with you.
TACTICAL EXECUTION & MANAGEMENT– is Part-2 in our 3-Part series for creating an effective and successfulMaster Action Plan. In our Part-1 post, we addressed the essential starting point and purpose of Strategic Planning. Today’s post addresses the need for Tactical Execution &Management to reach your goals and objectives that were established in your Strategic Planning. As mentioned in our previous post, the three stages of an effective Master Action Plan include:
PART-1 – Strategic Planning
PART-2 – Tactical Execution & Management
PART-3 – Effective Monitoring & Evaluation
PART-2 – TACTICAL EXECUTION & MANAGEMENT:
Tactical Execution & Management is the critical component to achieving the goals and objectives in your Master Action Plan. Without Tactical Execution & Management , your strategic planning becomes just wishful thoughts and dreams. Also, bear in mind, that if Strategic Planning is where successful results begin, then Tactical Execution & Management determines how your results will end…either in success or failure.
So, once you have completed the Strategic Planning phase within your Master Action Plan, and have identified your key goals and objectives, then you need to apply Tactical Execution & Management by:
Establishing Action Steps for each Goal
Prioritizing the Action Steps for each Goal
Assigning responsibility for each Action Step to the person/ team or group to complete.
ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS:
We’ve established that Tactical Execution & Management is essential, and this needs to be approached and implemented in a systematic, disciplined, and practical manner. Below are a few “Essential Elements” to Tactical Execution & Management based on our Best Practices approach:
ACTION STEPS – These need to be identified, documented and prioritized in a sequential order as they need to enable the person/ team/ group to progress from one Action Step to another. If this is not done, then your progress for completion may become delayed, disjointed, and may ultimately result in a failed goal or objective. A most simple yet illustrative example is; that each Action Step must be prioritized in a specific order…just as it would be essential in teaching a child to tie his/her shoe. One mis-aligned step in the process, and the results are clear. Yet when Action Steps are properly identified, documented, prioritized and completed, these result in a progressive process towards achieving your goals and objectives.
DEADLINE/BENCHMARK DATES – All Action Steps must have established deadlines or benchmark dates. Without deadline dates, there is no sense of urgency, commitment, need of completion nor the ability to move forward in a progressive manner to the next Action Step. By establishing and adhering to deadline dates, progress is made, and the next step can be engaged in a logical and methodical manner.
ASSIGNMENT OF RESPONSIBILITY – All Action Steps must be assigned to someone responsible for completing the task. The assignment of an Action Step to an individual places the responsibility for completing a specific task by a certain date. Assigning personal responsibility establishes participation, responsibility and accountability. Assignment of responsibility also provides the evidence of performance in how we gauge and measure an individual’s contribution and value to a group or organization, and is linked to the overall success or failure in achieving the stated goals and objectives.
PRIORITIZATION OF IMPORTANCE – Each Action Step must be prioritized in terms of importance to achieving the stated goal. Prioritization also aids the individual responsible for completing the task by providing scheduling guidance, whether it should be high or low on their list of other tasks they may be accountable for. Given that there could be many Goals and related Action Steps in a Master Action Plan, both must be prioritized in terms of their importance and timeliness of completion in order to achieve the organization’s goals and objectives.
STATUS OF COMPLETION – Each Action Step must be monitored with a status of completion. Designating whether an Action Step is completed (with either a “Yes/No/IP” (In process) status), allows management evaluate and measure their progress. This status benchmark must be used to monitor the progress of the designated individual, team or group as to whether they have been successful in completing the specified and assigned Action Step in a timely manner.
CONCLUSION:
As stated earlier, without Tactical Execution & Management, your Strategic Planning becomes nothing more than an exercise in listing dormant and unfulfilled dreams. We would never want that to happen to you or to any of our clients. That’s why we developed the M.A.P. solution.
The M.A.P. solution that GMS Business Consulting, Inc provides, delivers all you need for Strategic Planning and Tactical Execution & Management for you and your organization, each and every year. M.A.P. is a strategic and tactical Master Action Plan that sits above all your business operating platforms, time and billing platforms, sales & marketing platforms, inventory control platforms, communications platforms, and data storage and recovery platforms. Those are all “COMPONENTS” within your M.A.P. All of those platforms may change, merge, be substituted or disappear each year. Your M.A.P. solution will provide the strategic evaluation and planning along with the tactical execution and management for all facets of our organization, year after year. Our M.A.P. solution helps you to define your vision, how to establish a strategic plan to achieve your vision, and then how to successfully implement and manage the action steps necessary to meet your goals and objectives for your organization. This is your road M.A.P. to your success.
All businesses should have a M.A.P. to guide, direct, execute and monitor its vision and progress. Contact Us if you have any questions or if we can help you to Strategically Plan and Tactically Execute & Manage your business with success and piece of mind.
Our next Post (Part-3), will focus on Effective Monitoring and Evaluation. See you in a couple weeks. Have a successful and blessed week.
GMS BUSINESS CONSULTING, INC. – Provides lawyers/law firms, for-profit & non-profit organizations, and other business professionals with Accounting Services, Business Development Services (M.A.P.), Business Optimization Services, and Digital Marketing Services. We help business professionals strategically manage and tactically grow their businesses more effectively and efficiently. We do NOT provide investment advice. Contact Us if you are interested in learning more about our services, and in particular about M.A.P.(our 3-phase business development & management solution), designed to help you strategically manage and tactically grow your business. We would welcome the opportunity to speak with you.
Strategic Planning is where successful results begin. This is Part-1 of a 3-Part series of an effective Master Action Plan. The 3 parts we’ll address over the next 3 posts include:
PART-1 – Strategic Planning
PART-2 – Tactical Management & Execution
PART-3 – Effective Monitoring & Evaluation
PART-1 – STRATEGIC PLANING:
Strategic Planning is where the Master Action Plan for your law practice or business “begins.” I’s vital to establish who you are (as the CEO and as a business), and this takes some critical thought. You need to define the products or services you’re offering to potential clients or customers, and why they should buy you and your firm versus your competitors. You also need to describe the direction your organization is heading in the future, and why. You clients and customers want to know…
Strategic Planning is critical, as it establishes and outlines from the outset your vision, mission and goals of your organization. Without strategic planning, your organization will have little or no direction or impact, and your target market will see this one way or another. Think of strategic planning in these simple terms: It’s like telling someone to get in the car and drive…and they respond, “Why? Why am I driving? What for? Why do I need to drive? Where am I going? Will you give me directions? What can expect along the way? When will I get there? Are there any landmarks to where I’m going? How long will it take? How will I know when I get there? What do I get in return for driving there?”
CONCLUSION:
Strategic Planning is your starting point. Based on the amount and quality of time you invest to strategically plan, will greatly impact the road and journey you’ll experience either to success, frustration or failure. The degree of strategic planning you commit to your organization, will significantly impact all areas of your organization, whether for good or bad.
So, how can you as the CEO of your organization, keep all this strategic planning and information organized, documented, usable, practical, measurable and efficient? Ho you do this will also greatly impact your level of success. That’s why at GMS Business Consulting, Inc. we provide a powerful business solution called M.A.P. (it’s a Master Action Plan) designed to help any lawyer, law firm, for-profit or non-profit business to strategically plan, manage and grow their organization.
Our M.A.P. solution is NOT a matter or case management or time & billing solution. This is a solution on a significantly higher-level of strategic planning and implementation than any solution you may have. All your important business strategies and components of your organization will fall under the strategic planning umbrella of your M.A.P. solution. Your M.A.P. will be your strategic “Command-and-Control-Center” for all aspects of your organization. Everything within your organization becomes supportive or subordinate to the directives within your M.A.P. such as:
Personnel – Goals, Expectations and Performance
Management – Goals, Expectations and Performance
Product/Service Development – Goals, Expectations and Performance
Technology Infrastructure – Goals, Expectations and Performance
Sales & Marketing – Goals, Expectations and Performance
M&A/ Sales/ Acquisition Strategies – Goals, Expectations and Performance
And much, much more…
By strategically planning, each business unit within your organization, along with each strategic business decision that affects your organization will be represented in your M.A.P. This is how successful CEO’s/ Managing Partners/ and Business Owners can effectively manage their organization. This same M.A.P. solution is now available to you.
We hope this post is helpful to you. Our next post in February will be Part-2 – Tactical Management & Execution. Until then, we wish you good health and success. If you have any questions in the meantime, please Contact. Us.
GMS BUSINESS CONSULTING, INC. – Provides lawyers/law firms, for-profit & non-profit organizations, and other business professionals with Accounting Services, Business Development Services (M.A.P.), Business Optimization Services, and Digital Marketing Services. We help business professionals strategically manage and tactically grow their businesses more effectively and efficiently. We do NOT provide investment advice. Contact Us if you are interested in learning more about our services, and in particular about M.A.P.(our 3-phase business development & management solution), designed to help you strategically manage and tactically grow your business. We would welcome the opportunity to speak with you.
A perspective on Covid-19 statistics can help us better understand the data and the avalanche of data that hits the daily news headlines. According to Bloomberg News, “Global coronavirus infections climbed above 85 million (as of January 4th), and the daily cases in the U.S. soared to a record of nearly 300,000 following the New Year holiday.” So on the surface, this sounds like a lot of people being infected by Covid-19. It is a big number no doubt, but let’s put this and a few more data points in perspective globally and nationally:
A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE:
GLOBAL INFECTIONS – As of today (January 4, 2021) – According to Johns Hopkins University , globally we have reached 85,497,369 people infected by Covid-19. If you divide that number by the total global population of 7,836,800,670 people (according to the World Population Clock), and you arrive at a 1.09% global infection rate (actual # is .0109).
Global Infection-Death Rate – Once again, according to Johns Hopkins University, the global deaths are currently at 1,849,054. So divide this number by 85,497,369 people infected by Covid-19, and you arrive at a global-infection death rate of 2.16 % (actual # is .0216).
Global Death Rate – If you divide the number of Covid-19 deaths globally (1,849,054) by the global population (7,836,800,670), this puts the current global-death rate at 0.02% (actual # is .0002).
A NATIONAL PERSPECTIVE:
NATIONAL INFECTIONS – As of today (January 4, 2021) – According to Johns Hopkins University, the United States has reached 20,739,217 Covid-19 infections. If you divide that number by the total U.S. population of 332,007,863 people (according to the World Population Clock), you arrive at a national-infection rate of 6.25% (actual # is .0625).
National Infection-Death Rate – Once again, according to Johns Hopkins University, the U.S. deaths are currently at 352,620. So divide this number by 20,739,217 U.S. infections, and you arrive at a U.S. infection-death rate of 1.70% (actual # is .0170).
National Death Rate – If you divide U.S Covid-19 deaths (352,620) by the U.S. population (332,007,863 people), this puts the current U.S. death rate at 0.1% (actual # is .0011).
STATISTICAL PERSPECTIVE:
Let’s shift gears now, and look at the flip-side of the deluge of data we’re presented with daily, and referenced above to get an alternate perspective on Covid-19 statistics. Contrary to how the media presents the daily Covid data, there is light at the end of the tunnel as we look at the statistics from the opposite or a macro perspective:
Globally: (look at the inverse of the above statistics) If 1.09% of the worlds population has been infected by Covid-19, that means that 98.91% of the global population has not been infected (yet). Also, if the global infection-death rate is 2.16%, that means that 97.84% of the global population infected by Covid-19, survive.
Nationally: (look at the inverse of the above statistics) If 6.25% of the U.S. population has been infected by Covid-19, then that means that 93.75% of the U.S. population has not been infected (yet). In addition, if the U.S. national infection-death rate is 1.70%, then that means that 98.30% of the U.S. population infected by Covid-19, survive.
CONCLUSION:
So now that we’ve provided a perspective on Covid-19 statistics, what does this all mean? What are the implications and lessons learned?
We understand that Covid-19 appears to be more deadly than the annual flu. Most of us of us have known people who have either been infected or know of someone who has passed away from this virus that normally wouldn’t from the annual flu. However, we also personally know individuals who had completely different Covid illness experiences than others. This is not an ordinary flu virus…it manifests itself differently than the ordinary flu in many ways…sometimes with deadly outcomes. Regardless, all loss of life from this virus had been a tragedy.
We also have learned that our healthcare workers (and we MUST NOT forget the store workers too…who get paid a lot less!) are true heroes! They and others are putting their lives on the line daily, all to help us! We just need more of these selfless people to meet the demands in situations like this. Which brings me to the next point…
We’ve also learned that our current health care system is insufficient to adequately handle pandemics. Lack of designated building space, under-supplied medical devices and equipment, and under-staffed medical personnel has resulted in overcrowded ER and ICU facilities. (We personally have family and friends who are physicians/ nurses/ health service providers etc…and we’ve heard their direct testimonies.) Our healthcare system is over-burdened, over-run and short-staffed, which we believe is also a national tragedy. (We’ll address these particular issues more, along with possible solutions in another post later this month).
As we apply discernment of Covid-19 statistics (from the above sections), it begs the questions:
Do the above statistics merit the shut-downs and closures of our local and global economies. Does it merit the loss of millions of small businesses and the rising unemployment (while the large corporations keep getting fatter and bigger)?
What will be the real financial implications, in terms of loss of economic productivity? PLUS, what will be the the future impact on our economies as a result of the voracious appetite of digital money being poured into the world economies? World debt and our national debt have never been higher, and this will eventually have an impact. The question is…to what extent and for how long?
Given the “warp-speed” vaccine roll-outs (which normally take years to complete), how effective will the vaccines be in 3, 6 or 12 months from now?
What are/will be the medical side effects?
Have we sacrificed good science for the sake of a rushed solution that may prove ineffective? If so, at what cost?
Who is gain the most? Hopefully humanity at large will gain the most. (We hope the people are the beneficiaries, particularly the elderly and those with co-morbidities).
Who else is to gain?
When it comes to vaccines, we tend to be a little jaded by the industry that produces these. Here are three links to interviews that may better articulate our skeptical position on today’s vaccines:
So many questions will be answered in time…but at what cost?
We hope this post on A Perspective on Covid-19 Statistics has brought some alternate ways of evaluating the data presented to us, and to help raise more questions to discuss, evaluate and consider. We look forward to following up on a few of these points previously made above in future posts. Until then, as we always say, “Do your own research, then make a better informed decision.”
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