In the first article of this series, I focused on why firms can’t stand still - the need for relentless innovation to stay relevant. But innovation alone isn’t enough. To truly move forward, firms must also learn how to redeploy what they already have. Too often, firms default to the comfort of core services while opportunities such as advisory, BPO, and technology-enabled solutions expand around them. The real challenge is learning to redeploy their existing strengths into assets that fuel the next stage of growth.
The research in Will & Vision by Gerard Tellis and Peter Golder makes a simple but powerful point: success isn’t about being first. It’s about how firms leverage their existing strengths - brand, relationships, reputation, and expertise - to move with purpose into new markets. For accounting firms, that means treating assets as dynamic resources that can be redeployed, not fixed investments to be protected at all costs.
The Assets That Matter
Tellis and Golder distinguish between two types of assets:
Generalized assets — transferable strengths like brand equity, reputation, client relationships, and institutional knowledge. These can serve as powerful springboards into new services or industries.
Specialized assets — harder-to-move investments like tax processes, audit platforms, or entrenched workflows. These often become anchors, slowing a firm’s ability to pivot.
Firms that grow are the ones willing to redeploy generalized assets boldly, while making hard choices about when to move on from specialized assets that no longer serve future growth.
What Holds Firms Back
As I noted in the first article, fear of cannibalization often holds firms back from pursuing new services. In accounting this shows up as hesitation to scale CAS or adopt automation/AI because leaders worry it will reduce traditional billable work. But it’s not the only barrier. Three other forces also keep firms from leveraging their assets effectively:
Cost Myopia — focusing only on the near-term expense of entering a new market instead of the long-term payoff of scale and efficiency.
Legacy Complacency — overvaluing what has worked in the past and defaulting to the comfort of core services, even when clients are asking for more.
Bureaucracy — slow decision-making that chokes off bold moves before they start.
The result: firms know where they need to go but get stuck on the path forward.
The CGO Perspective
From a Chief Growth Officer’s seat, leveraging assets is about turning what firms already have into fuel for what comes next. That requires a system-level view of the firm:
Going deeper with client relationships to uncover advisory opportunities, while also expanding strategic alliances and referral networks.
Using the firm’s reputation and partner trust as springboards to enter new markets and service lines with credibility.
Building enterprise-level structure that aligns leadership and creates centralized investment capacity - ensuring resources are directed toward firm-wide priorities.
Productizing existing assets - converting institutional knowledge, client processes, or specialty expertise into scalable service models, dashboards, or subscription offerings that drive recurring revenue.
In practice, this means moving away from a fragmented partnership mindset toward an enterprise model where growth, structure, and innovation are treated as disciplines of the firm, not optional projects.
Where Firms Can Start
For firms ready to act now, here are three practical entry points:
Inventory your transferable strengths. Identify which client relationships, skills, or brand assets could provide an immediate advantage in a new market.
Equip growth leaders with structure. Don’t just assign someone to lead a new service. Provide frameworks, business models, and playbooks that connect their efforts to firm-wide strategy and give them a clear path to execute.
Align leadership and investment. Commit to centralized investment in growth priorities, to build for the future.
Final Word
In the first article of this series, I explored why firms can’t stand still - the discipline of relentless innovation. This second piece is about the how: using the assets you already have to fuel the next stage of growth.
Will & Vision reminds us that leadership isn’t about being first. It’s about having the vision and courage to deploy your strengths in new ways. For accounting firms, that means leveraging assets and expertise to build the services and models of tomorrow.
The real question isn’t Do we have enough assets? It’s: Are we prepared to use them boldly and with structure to build what comes next?