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All You Need to Know about Commercial Awareness
- GenresLaw
272 pages, Paperback
First published February 28, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 27, 2022
I went to study law at university last year in the hopes of landing a job at a 'magic circle' law firm, knowing nothing about the industry except that it is hard work but pays well. One thing law firms look for in applicants is commercial awareness, which led me to finding this book. Up till this point, I saw gaining this elusive skill as merely another hurdle to overcome in the journey towards my modest goal. Having read All You Need to Know about Commercial Awareness, however, my outlook on the subject has changed from one of casual indifference to one of fervent enthusiasm. In the process of teaching the meaning of commercial awareness and how to become commercially aware, Christopher Stoakes has largely dispelled the moral hang-ups I've had about businesses and capitalism and paints the commercial world as one that is filled with fun, excitement, and most of all, meaning. I am now more motivated in pursuing my chosen path than ever before, and for that I am eternally grateful to the author.
The book begins by striking down commonly held beliefs about business and markets that cause people to actively avoid taking up an interest in them. The first is that business is about greed. To entrepreneurs, business is a game - it is about finding a way to help people, dealing with competitors, and coming up with ways to innovate. The second is that capitalism is a scourge on society. Capitalism incentivises people to seek out problems and create solutions, and the summation of lots of problems being solved leads to richer and happier societies. The third is that is that there is no need to think about business if you are not managing one. Businesses are all around us and they attempt to gain our patronage via all sorts of ingenious methods - paying attention (being commercially aware), rather than taking things for granted, makes daily life more enriching.
Now that my feelings of animosity towards business have dissipated, Stoakes capitalised on my attention by providing valuable insights one after another, in rapid succession. The book expands from just being a monograph on a niche topic into a fountain of wisdom that is relevant to many aspects of life. The expansion begins with the realisation that commercial awareness means thinking about the world from the perspective of an entrepreneur. This is when the book provides seminal ideas by top scholars and management consulting firms, and also introduces the role of professional service firms. Law firms, investment banks etc. are people that businesses call upon they want to do things such as raise money or acquire another company. Now, shifting my perspective from an entrepreneur's back to one of an aspiring commercial lawyer, it is clear why I should be commercially aware. It is because my clients will be businesses, so I should do my best to understand them in order to solve their problems.
All You Need to Know contains a few chapters on basic business and accounting concepts that I can get from any textbook, but more valuable is the advice it gives on getting a job in a professional service firm and then tips on excelling in the workplace once I've secured the role. Reading these tips is akin to listening to an accomplished mentor and made me feel like my career development has been accelerated by at least five years. I will refer to advice on this front again and again.
Despite the positives, it needs to be said that by no means is this work a paragon of literary excellence. The prose is colloquial almost to a fault, where oftentimes the language can be vague and lead to misunderstanding. But I suppose this was done purposefully to make the content less pretentious, and hence welcoming to a wider audience.
My biggest takeaway from this book is that business, as in life, is about judgement more than anything else. Results are achieved not merely by working harder, but by making better choices. Businesses need to choose which problem to solve, which markets to avoid, which law firms to help them. Lawyers need to choose which clients to pitch for, how to pitch, and how to approach their work. The process behind making choices is where the challenge lies, and this challenge is where the greatest intellectual stimulation occurs. Stoakes illuminates areas in one's career where one is making life-altering choices without being aware of it, and offers strategies on improving the outcome. All You Need to Know been a pleasure to read, and I could not have ask for a better introduction to the topic. I feel more confident about reading the news, applying for jobs, and also about my place in the world. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.
The book begins by striking down commonly held beliefs about business and markets that cause people to actively avoid taking up an interest in them. The first is that business is about greed. To entrepreneurs, business is a game - it is about finding a way to help people, dealing with competitors, and coming up with ways to innovate. The second is that capitalism is a scourge on society. Capitalism incentivises people to seek out problems and create solutions, and the summation of lots of problems being solved leads to richer and happier societies. The third is that is that there is no need to think about business if you are not managing one. Businesses are all around us and they attempt to gain our patronage via all sorts of ingenious methods - paying attention (being commercially aware), rather than taking things for granted, makes daily life more enriching.
Now that my feelings of animosity towards business have dissipated, Stoakes capitalised on my attention by providing valuable insights one after another, in rapid succession. The book expands from just being a monograph on a niche topic into a fountain of wisdom that is relevant to many aspects of life. The expansion begins with the realisation that commercial awareness means thinking about the world from the perspective of an entrepreneur. This is when the book provides seminal ideas by top scholars and management consulting firms, and also introduces the role of professional service firms. Law firms, investment banks etc. are people that businesses call upon they want to do things such as raise money or acquire another company. Now, shifting my perspective from an entrepreneur's back to one of an aspiring commercial lawyer, it is clear why I should be commercially aware. It is because my clients will be businesses, so I should do my best to understand them in order to solve their problems.
All You Need to Know contains a few chapters on basic business and accounting concepts that I can get from any textbook, but more valuable is the advice it gives on getting a job in a professional service firm and then tips on excelling in the workplace once I've secured the role. Reading these tips is akin to listening to an accomplished mentor and made me feel like my career development has been accelerated by at least five years. I will refer to advice on this front again and again.
Despite the positives, it needs to be said that by no means is this work a paragon of literary excellence. The prose is colloquial almost to a fault, where oftentimes the language can be vague and lead to misunderstanding. But I suppose this was done purposefully to make the content less pretentious, and hence welcoming to a wider audience.
My biggest takeaway from this book is that business, as in life, is about judgement more than anything else. Results are achieved not merely by working harder, but by making better choices. Businesses need to choose which problem to solve, which markets to avoid, which law firms to help them. Lawyers need to choose which clients to pitch for, how to pitch, and how to approach their work. The process behind making choices is where the challenge lies, and this challenge is where the greatest intellectual stimulation occurs. Stoakes illuminates areas in one's career where one is making life-altering choices without being aware of it, and offers strategies on improving the outcome. All You Need to Know been a pleasure to read, and I could not have ask for a better introduction to the topic. I feel more confident about reading the news, applying for jobs, and also about my place in the world. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.
November 28, 2022
First half is quite basic and if you have any background in business might be a bit boring, but second half is surprisingly helpful and informative
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews