Five Things I’ve Come to Learn

In June, I caught up with Scott Cattran, CEO of Woolpert (Dayton, OH) (ENR #47), at the opening reception of our Western States M&A and Business Symposium at the Wynn Resort in Las Vegas. I always enjoy spending time with Scott. A visionary chief executive with a great outlook on life and business and a super sense of humor. As usual our conversation bounced around between the personal, the professional, and—shockingly—the profound. It was during that conversation that the seeds of this article were sown. Our conversation had turned to topics we had come to realize over the course of our careers and how our perspectives may have changed or evolved.

That discussion with Scott stayed with me. It prompted me to think more about some of the ways my views on business and management have changed over the years. I kept coming back to our discussion over these past few months and decided to write down my thoughts.

1. If you’re not growing, you’re dying. In the early part of my career, when I was engineering (I can hear some of you laughing right now) or consulting (your snickering does not hurt me), I used to roll my eyes whenever I heard CEOs or business gurus make this proclamation. I just wanted to keep my head down, get my work done, and make sure my boss was happy with my work product. Any talk about growth implied more stress, more uncertainty, less stability for me to practice my craft. Plus, the “grow or die” statement always seemed to be declared more like a personal preference and less like a cogent statement on business strategy. That all changed when I became an owner in 1996. The necessity for growth became really clear then. Not just to drive returns on my individual investment (capitalism rules!), but more importantly as an owner, I realized I was now directly vested in an experiment that had the potential to improve the lives of my colleagues, our clients, and our communities, and the best (and only) way to maximize that potential was to intentionally grow the business. I had no other choice. Intentional growth has been our mantra at Morrissey Goodale for 18 years. Long may it remain so.

2. Hire people who are smarter than you. This is another expression I would hear bandied about back in the day. As an angry young skeptic, I always figured this was a way for CEOs to virtue signal some form of ultimately self-serving self-deprecation. But I’ve come to learn the critical importance of this over the years. And I’m an evangelist for it in my advisory work. This—the hiring of a team smarter than oneself—is indeed where some really powerful magic is created for firms. When founders or CEOs have the insight, smarts, or just plain good luck to surround themselves with a team of folks smarter than they are, great things happen. The key word here being “team.” This is the critical element in the pursuit of growth. And it’s central to your ability to transition your firm—internally or externally. I’ve witnessed this play out time and time again with our most successful (and dynamically happy) clients. I feel blessed to be surrounded at our firm by a team of talented individuals who collectively empower me to state truthfully in every meeting “Now, I’m clearly not the smartest person in the room…”

3. Your brand is your most valuable asset. No, wait… Or is it “Your people are your most valuable asset?” “No, surely it’s your firm’s data is your most valuable one?” Well, it’s all three. I’ve referred to them in the past as Asset 1A, Asset 1B, and Asset 1C to help mediate client team conflicts on the topic. But that was a cop out. I’ve argued that one is more important than the other to alternatively secure funding from a limited enterprise budget for a marketing initiative, or an HR investment, or a data overhaul—not my finest hour. I’ve come to realize that they are one and the same. The holy trinity of professional services success if you will. The most successful firms proactively invest and look for continual improvement and connectivity in all three areas. We like to think we do, too.

4. Don’t stick around too long. Times change. People change. Perspectives change. What your company needs from you will change. Don’t resist it. Instead, be the catalyst for and facilitator of those changes. Immerse yourself in your transition so that the next CEO will be more successful than you. You may be losing your fastball, but your baton-passing skills as part of the final leg of the business relay 4×400 are next level and essential for the win. Related—if you want to see an awesome CEO transition in action, then check out this week’s announcements coming out of our client Barge Design Solutions (Nashville, TN) (ENR #167). Bob Higgins and his team have literally written the playbook for CEO succession.

5. It’s OK to fail. This was another phrase that used to infuriate me. I’d listen to CEOs or self-proclaimed motivational speakers declare this time and time again. But all I heard was “I screwed up, I’m not perfect, I’m damaged goods, I let my people and my investors down, I’m a fake.” I heard “failure is bad and an end unto itself.” What I failed to understand was how to take the lessons learned from failure and apply them. Some of our most successful clients have mistimed markets, or made bets on the wrong CEO successor, or invested in real estate that went south (to name just a few outright failures). They swung. They missed. They learned. They recovered. They got stronger. It’s a beautiful thing when it happens. “Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in getting up every time we do.”—Confucius.

Have I come to learn more than these five things over my career? Sure. But as I reflect on these five, I’m as happy to have learned them as I am that I have clients and friends who have inspired, mentored, and taught me along the way.

Our team of folks who are smarter than me will be at our 2025 Southeast M&A and Business Symposium at the Mandarin Oriental in sunny Miami this March 12 through 14. Join them and over 200 AE industry executives, investors, and experts to get a “first read” of how the industry is performing in 2025 and where it’s headed, to learn how industry M&A and valuations are playing out in the new year, and to do some power networking to help take your firm to the next level. Register today at the early-bird rate to reserve your place.

To contact Mick Morrissey, email him at [email protected] or text him at 508.380.1868.