You know how it is; you tell a young child that you’re going to cut the grass, redecorate the bathroom or whatever, and you’re asked, ‘Why?’ Each answer you give is met with another ‘Why?’ We were all like that once. Maybe because the final answer always tended to be ‘because I said so!’, we eventually stopped asking.

Even in adulthood, however, there is no better way of learning than taking nothing for granted and always seeking reasons. Our work in law firms is no exception. Yet we start in a new job and tend to take on board everything we are told about the job and how it is to be done. Progress to management, and you are still dealing with conventional wisdom.

More and more firms are starting to go back to this relentless ‘why’ – looking at what they do, who does it and why they do certain things at all.

The results can be startling and can lead to greater efficiencies, profitability and opportunities for growth. Far from feeling that this is the wrong time to do it, in the midst of a recession smart firms realise that if they don’t do it now they will just repeat the same mistakes – if and when they climb out the other side – and the sorry cycle will start again.

But before you can ask why, you have to know ‘what’. What is it that everyone in your firm does and how is it done? Working that out is called business process mapping and it is a hugely valuable exercise. But it’s got to be done before you listen to your inner child and challenge all you have accepted in the past.

Business process mapping will require a meticulous study and the time of many people in your firm, from the managing partner through to the post room.

Once you have mapped out your processes and start asking why – without any no-go areas – you will be amazed at some of the things that have been done hitherto, often with no good reason and usually to the detriment of your profits. You then have the chance to do something about them.