“I do really good work,” said the lawyer.

No one cared, and they all hired the lawyer down the block.

Why? Because everyone knows the lawyer down the block.

Is she a great lawyer? No, she’s not great. She’s fine.

She’s Applebee’s or TGI Friday’s or Outback Steakhouse.

She’s good enough that no one feels compelled to say nasty things about her. She’s good enough to silence her critics. But she’s no great shakes. (I wonder whether they have good shakes at Applebee’s…)

In fact, Applebee’s does have shakes: an Oreo Cookie shake. It’s “Yummy vanilla ice cream with tons of Oreo cookies blended in. It’s like having ice cream and cookies at the same time!”

Back to my point (apparently, I’m easily distracted)—doing good work only gets you so far. That’s kind of sad, but it’s true. You’ve got to know people so they talk about you and send their friends and family.

The “good work” lawyer seems paralyzed by his situation. He desperately wants to believe that doing good work is good enough.

Think of all the great shakes I drove right past on my way to that Oreo Cookie shake.

Are those Shake Shacks I just drove by whining about how great their shakes are, or are they doing something about making sure everyone knows about their shake?