Gilles McStranovich

Once upon a time there was a very famous hockey player, multiple Stanley Cup champion, and the idol of Lincoln and every other seven year old who ever strapped on a pair of skates.

One day this very famous hockey player, who we will call Gilles McStranovich, was invited to play at a charity golf tournament at the Hunt Club, a rather exclusive course in Ottawa. Despite the fact it was mid-summer, Gilles showed up in full hockey regalia– helmet, face mask, body armour, everything right down to, and including, freshly sharpened skates.

To the horror of the greens-keepers, Gilles sliced his way down the course on skates, leaving great gouging furrows in his wake. Every swing at the little white ball– whether long drive or short putt– was made with his trusty CCM Ribcor hockey stick.

Gilles ended the game with the highest score. From what I understand about the game, that’s not good.

Now, if you’re already guessed this story is not true, you’re right. There is no such hockey player and there was no such game. But the story was told to make a point.

Far too many professionals try to play golf with hockey sticks. In many law firms, for example, any litigator who feels like it can bang out the occasional “simple will” for clients, on the assumption that nothing in the law has changed since law school days, and besides, it’s simple. Take a few instructions over the phone, get the assistant to prep it, there’s an easy $500.00.

The problem with a will drafted in ignorance of the law or the essential facts is that nobody will discover the problem until the testator dies, at which point it’s a tad late, and the children of a former marriage may not take kindly to being overlooked.

Auditors who have only the faintest memory of their long-ago mandatory tax course will be pressed into service in a white-hot tax season, and an electrical engineer may be asked for an opinion on a bridge. Engineers are engineers, right? What could go wrong?

Sticking to your knitting, as the expression goes, is not only the safest course of action for the client, but for the professional as well.

There’s a reason for specialization, and clients have every right to expect the right professional will be matched to the right problem.

Let’s not be Gilles McStranovich.

The header: A tribute to a courageous and resourceful people. May they overcome.