Is your law firm an integrated professional business or a collection of fiefdoms?

This is the tenth in a series of sixteen articles that will explore the relevance and, for some law firms the existential importance, of W. Edwards Deming's Fourteen Points.

Deming’s ninth point in his Fourteen Points of Total Quality Management stresses a vital, yet often overlooked, aspect of organizational effectiveness: "Break down barriers between departments." As the practice of law becomes more complex and competitive, with greater challenges to sustainable profitability, this point is more important than ever before, even among smaller firms who might have “silos” that are so small as not to be noticeable.