BBC: Vermont–Quebec Border Conflict Continues

photo: Laura Carpenter (Newport Daily Express)

Early this year Derby Line, Vermont and Stanstead, Quebec got into a row over long simmering issues and the Stansteaders sealed the border—with flower pots. These are not 800 pounders, like the ones at US government building entrances post 9/11. No, these are… just flower pots. Now the controversy has caught the attention of the BBC. Check out this December 11 BBC television report: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20649024.

It's sad that the painted white line that alone marked the international border is gradually being replaced by less friendly symbols of the nation-state. The feds make life more complicated than it needs to be--no surprise there.

Peoples' diplomacy: Talk. Be candid. Be fair. Keep it simple. Stay friends.

et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis

[And on Earth peace and goodwill to all]

Clients Need to Encourage Teamwork

Clients ought to encourage the professionals in their lives to "play well together in the sandbox": to meet, talk, and share client information.

"...Collaborating is just an excuse for running up higher hourly fees..."

How short-sighted!

When the lawyers, accountants, and insurance agents on both sides of the border don't talk with each other, working with blinders on, their cross-border clients can miss tremendous opportunities and face stiff penalties--in effect burning tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars on the barbie.

"I just deal with the immigration issues..."

I heard it again yesterday.

"It's not my area, it's not my problem..." 

Professional services are so compartmentalized! Professionals impose boundaries on their expertise and their services. They have to. They cannot be, know, and do everything. But do the boundaries make sense? Do the boundaries exist in the real world? 

If the boundaries don't reflect real world boundaries, then the professional's advice and efforts are going to reflect ARTIFICIAL distinctions. Is that a problem? Not necessarily, one might say, particularly when the client's troubles are few and within a narrow subject area.

HOW DOES THE PROFESSIONAL KNOW THE CLIENT'S TROUBLES ARE FEW AND NARROW IF THE PROFESSIONAL CONFINES HIS/HER ASSESSMENT TO A NARROW FIELD? 

The blind are leading the blind.

Many if not most client needs have a ripple effect: they give rise to other issues and they themselves are caused by other issues. Client needs are almost inherently multi-issue and multidisciplinary. Any professional who denies this is asking for trouble--trouble for himself/herself and for the client. 

Fine, have the guts to tell the client that. Broaden your knowledge base, enough so you can spot issues outside of your perceived area of expertise. And collaborate with other kinds of professionals to serve the client properly.