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My guest for Episode #318 of the My Favorite Mistake podcast is Matthew Neal Davis, an attorney, entrepreneur, and author of the provocative book The Art of Preventing Stupid.
Matthew is the founder and managing partner of Davis Business Law, which has grown more than 1,000% in six years, earning a spot on the Inc. 5000 list. In addition to running a multi-office law firm across several states, he’s also the frontman of a heavy metal band called Geriatric Steel.
In this episode, Matthew shares how not fully recognizing the leadership lessons from his Eagle Scout experience early in his legal career became a favorite mistake—and how it shaped the way he leads his firm today.
Matthew reflects on the hiring and leadership missteps that stemmed from overlooking those early lessons—particularly how applying Ken Blanchard’s Situational Leadership framework helped him better support team members through growth phases. He explains how understanding where someone is on the spectrum from “excited beginner” to “self-reliant high achiever” has transformed how he mentors attorneys and minimizes costly turnover. These insights, combined with structured systems and data dashboards, now fuel a high-performance culture rooted in learning and ownership.
…we have rituals around this. Every Wednesday is WINSday—we celebrate successes. Every Friday, we have a firm huddle where we talk about what kicked our butts that week. We put it all on the table. That’s how we learn. That’s how we build trust and improvement into the culture.
We also talk about the core idea behind Matthew’s book: that most business problems come from one of three vulnerabilities—catastrophes, ignorance, or ill-discipline—and how leaders can build a “business immune system” to prevent them.
From mismanaged Google Ads campaigns to ill-advised partnerships, Matthew brings humor and clarity to how we can all learn faster, prepare better, and focus on growth. His story is a compelling reminder that being proactive beats being reactive—and that embracing mistakes is the best way to strengthen your systems and your culture.
Questions and Topics:
- What’s your favorite mistake?
- What did you overlook from your Eagle Scout experience that later became valuable in business?
- What specific mistakes did you make in those early years of running the firm?
- How do you apply situational leadership in your law firm?
- Can you share an example of helping someone move through that “frustrated learner” phase?
- What lessons from Scouting translate to business leadership?
- Did you ever think growing the firm beyond a solo practice was a mistake?
- What do you mean by “preventing stupid”?
- Can you explain your framework for categorizing business vulnerabilities?
- How do you distinguish ignorance from stupidity in business?
- What are examples of ill-discipline you’ve seen in your firm?
- Have you created checklists to avoid repeating mistakes?
- What is the Strong Protected Business System?
- How does your business immune system tool work?
- What do you mean by circular systems in business?
- How do you think about culture as your firm grows?
- Have you managed to avoid hiring narcissistic or toxic attorneys?
- How often do you get to play with your band, Geriatric Steel?
- Are your original songs available on Spotify or anywhere online?
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- Full transcript
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Automated Transcript (May Contain Mistakes)
Mark Graban: Hi. Welcome to My Favorite Mistake. I'm your host, Mark Graban. Our guest today is Matthew Neal Davis. He's the author of a book titled The Art of Preventing Stupid.
Mark Graban: So we're going to have a lot to talk about today—provocative title that it is. Matthew is an attorney and entrepreneur. He's grown his firm, Davis Business Law, over 1,000% in six years, earning a rare spot on the Inc. 5000 list, with offices from Austin to Kansas City. With more than 25 years of experience, Matthew now teaches business leaders how to, as he puts it, turn vulnerabilities into opportunities using what he calls the Strong Protected Business System.
Mark Graban: Matthew and his wife Allison have five children, including one adopted from Russia and the youngest from Ethiopia. He also leads a heavy metal band called—get this—Geriatric Steel. They have songs including “Get Off My Lawn” and “Teenage Daughter.” So with that, Matthew, welcome to the podcast.
Matthew Davis: Thank you. Thanks for plugging the little band. My wife was like, “You're serious?” I am. That's my retirement project—I'm gonna go play rock festivals. These songs just write themselves.
Mark Graban: Do you do cover tunes or all originals?
Matthew Davis: We've been doing all original songs, but we can play cover songs. We’ll pop out your Judas Priest or your Def Leppard or whatever. I've been practicing “Photograph” by Def Leppard. It was one of the first songs I learned 40-some years ago.
Mark Graban: So you're influenced by ‘80s heavy metal?
Matthew Davis: Yeah, that’s what we grew up on. We did a deal at one of our firm retreats, and my son goes, “Dad, why don’t you just write songs about middle age and hard rock?” I said, “Son, that’s genius.” They just started coming—songs like “Teenage Left on the Lights” and “Going Down Fighting.”
Mark Graban: Sounds fun. What instrument do you play? I’m a bit of a drummer, so I’m always curious.
Matthew Davis: I still have my Flying V that I bought in 1983 or ‘84, working in a bakery. That’s the rule of Geriatric Steel: you only get to play Flying V guitars. I have two of them now.
Mark Graban: Let’s talk about your book and advice for business owners. But as we always do—what's your favorite mistake?
Matthew Davis: I’m an Eagle Scout, and I didn’t realize how valuable all those leadership lessons were in running a business. Early on, I didn’t apply them. But speaking from that positional leadership—and tying that into Ken Blanchard’s situational leadership theory—turned out to be incredibly powerful. Especially in a service firm like ours, it’s key to help people grow and succeed.
Matthew Davis: We bring in attorneys from related areas of law, plug them into our systems, and work with them in a very organized way. It took me about 7–8 years of running the firm—from solo practice to a 15-attorney firm—before I realized, “Okay, this is how you do it.”
Mark Graban: In those early years, were there specific mistakes you made from not applying what you’d learned in Scouting or leadership theory?
Matthew Davis: Yeah, particularly in hiring. First, I didn’t understand how to identify the skill sets required to succeed in our firm. One key skill is being able to go to court and “box someone’s ears,” as I say. It's essential for our general counsel-style role. But I didn’t recognize that early on.
Matthew Davis: Then there’s also developing people once they’re in. If someone has a solid enough skill base, we can help them grow. Blanchard’s model helped us immensely. For example, Lexi, one of our newer attorneys, was struggling. I said, “You’re just having trouble with two of the seven key skill sets. You already excel in areas where some senior attorneys struggle.” That clicked for her. That clarity and support really empowers people.
Mark Graban: What are the most valuable leadership lessons you took from Scouting?
Matthew Davis: One is that you’re responsible for teaching and raising up everyone else on the team. As senior patrol leader, you had to organize and lead. It’s the same in business. You take responsibility for the growth of your team. Those “corny” lessons really do translate.
Mark Graban: And situational leadership helps you recognize what people need at a given moment?
Matthew Davis: Exactly. Blanchard, who’s best known for The One Minute Manager, built his firm on Leadership and the One Minute Manager. That clicked with us. You don’t run a firm by coercion or abdication. You build commitment to growth.
Matthew Davis: We break down each attorney’s role into seven skill sets. Then we look at where they are on the Blanchard scale—Excited Beginner, Frustrated Learner, Cautiously Competent, Self-Reliant High Achiever. That’s helpful not just for development but even during hiring.
Matthew Davis: When I interviewed a candidate last week, I showed him the chart and asked where he thought he’d need support. He said, “You’re right—that’s exactly where I’ll need help.” I said, “We’re here to deliver it.” That builds trust and clarity right from the start.
Mark Graban: Was there ever a time when you thought growing beyond a solo practice was a mistake?
Matthew Davis: No. At one point, one client was 40% of my revenue. That’s not a comfortable spot when you’re the breadwinner for a family of seven. I went to a law firm management conference, got the bug, and came home saying, “We’re starting a firm.” My wife said, “Okay.” I rounded up my paralegal, got some credit union backing, and we did it. We burned the boats.
Matthew Davis: And you know, it was a trying week—we had some stuff come up, and my wife was with me in Kansas City while I was doing interviews. As I was heading to Wichita, she said, “Wow, this was a tough week.” I said, “Well, it’s a lot more exciting than sitting around our hometown arguing with dumbasses.” Sorry about the language, but it’s true.
Mark Graban: That’s okay—not a mistake on this podcast. So let’s talk about the book. What’s the story behind The Art of Preventing Stupid? What do you really mean by “preventing stupid”?
Matthew Davis: The premise is that most of the stuff we get into—especially in business—is preventable, or at least something we could’ve been prepared for. That’s not just from a legal standpoint, but from a general life and leadership standpoint. I hate seeing people waste their potential, and most of the time, that waste is avoidable.
Matthew Davis: I break down business problems into three root causes: catastrophes, ignorance, and ill discipline. Catastrophes are the “sucker punches”—but even those follow patterns. Same things go wrong over and over again. If you take time to look at your systems—your personnel, your marketing, your operations—you can usually spot where something might go sideways before it happens.
Matthew Davis: For example, during one of our quarterly planning sessions, we looked at our personnel risks and said, “This attorney in Kansas City is probably going to quit this quarter.” A coach who was there asked, “How do you know that?” And we explained: young male attorneys, particularly, often hit a stage where they think the grass is greener. And sure enough, he quit the next day. But we were ready. We already had a recruiting campaign running and had his replacement hired within two weeks. That could’ve been a catastrophe—but it wasn’t, because we planned for it.
Matthew Davis: That’s just one example. The second category of problems is ignorance—not knowing what you don’t know. And that’s okay as long as you’re willing to admit it and do something about it. One of my favorite business quotes is from Harvey Mackay: “I can’t believe how stupid I was two weeks ago.” That’s a sign you’re learning. If you’re not saying that on a regular basis, you’re probably not growing.
Matthew Davis: We recently upgraded our recruiting, hiring, onboarding, and coaching systems—what we call R-HAWC. I was frustrated with how we were managing it with shared spreadsheets, and I realized I felt like I was reinventing the wheel. That’s a sign: when you feel that frustration, it usually means someone else has already solved that problem. So I started researching platforms like Trello, Asana, and Monday. My wife pulls me over and says, “Come here, dummy,” and shows me how she’s been using Trello for years to run our household. Sure enough, now we’ve got firm-wide Trello boards running our HR workflows way better than before.
Matthew Davis: Same thing happened with our dashboards. We knew we could do better tracking and visibility into firm performance. My daughter and another team member built these incredible dashboards that blow people’s minds when they see them—especially in a law firm setting, where data discipline is usually an afterthought.
Matthew Davis: So that’s the second category: ignorance. And you solve it with learning. But the third category—what I call ineptitude or ill-discipline—is when you already know what to do and just don’t do it. That’s where it gets frustrating. It’s like not flossing even though your dentist keeps reminding you. I finally started flossing consistently, and the hygienist said, “Your tissue looks so beautiful.” That still freaks me out a little.
Matthew Davis: But that’s the thing—knowing isn’t enough. You’ve got to have discipline. We know how to run tight Google Ads campaigns, for example. But sometimes we forget to lock down the settings. That happened when we entered a new market—left Google on broad match, and we got all these calls from people with problems we don’t even handle. Totally our fault. We knew better. That wasn’t ignorance. That was a lapse in discipline.
Mark Graban: So the first time that happened, it was a learning moment—ignorance. But if it happens again, it’s squarely in the “we should have known better” category.
Matthew Davis: Exactly. That’s why we build checklists and processes—to prevent these lapses from happening again. That’s also why YouTube is one of my best learning tools. I mean, you wouldn’t believe what I did with my daughter’s Mustang just by watching repair videos. If I can learn that, you can learn almost anything for your business.
Matthew Davis: So that’s the framework: catastrophes, ignorance, and ill-discipline. If you take time to brainstorm around those categories—ask smart questions about what can go wrong and where your blind spots are—you’ll be way ahead of the game. That’s how you build what I call a business immune system. You stop reacting and start playing offense.
Matthew Davis: That’s really the heart of the book and the system we teach. We want people thinking in categories, thinking structurally. Because if you’ll systematically address vulnerabilities—whether it’s preparing for a likely catastrophe, learning what you don’t know, or getting disciplined about what you do know—you’re going to outperform the competition. You’ll spend less time putting out fires and more time growing.
Matthew Davis: That’s where the Strong Protected Business System™ comes in. Anyone can go to our website—DavisBusinessLaw.com—and find all the tools under the Resources tab. One of those tools is the Business Immune System Report. It walks you through a structured brainstorming process using those three vulnerability types across seven core areas of any business.
Matthew Davis: Those seven systems are: management, personnel, metrics, facilities (or plant), marketing, sales, and production or service delivery. When you break your business down into those areas, and then ask things like, “Where are we vulnerable to catastrophe in sales?” or “Where are we ignorant about metrics?” or “Where are we undisciplined in personnel?”—you start to see where the holes are.
Matthew Davis: For example, maybe in marketing, you’re just throwing money at Facebook ads without understanding ROI. That’s ignorance. Or maybe you’re running your facilities without a preventive maintenance checklist. That’s ill-discipline. When you start looking at your business this way, you’re not overwhelmed. You’ve got categories. You can make a plan. And you start winning by preventing losses.
Matthew Davis: We also have a tool that’s similar but from a more external angle—looking at likely problems, urgent issues, and prioritizing them. It’s kind of like Eisenhower’s matrix for business defense. From that, you build an action plan. Sometimes, the smartest move is to grab the low-hanging fruit. Get a win. Build momentum.
Mark Graban: That’s very aligned with how I think as an engineer. Systems thinking, anticipating failure modes, asking what could go wrong—those are fundamental ideas. But you’ve put it into language and tools that business owners and operators can grab onto, even without a technical background.
Matthew Davis: That’s exactly the idea. I learned a long time ago from a coach: every business runs in a loop. You’ve got your production—that’s what you do. You need the right people to do it. You need metrics to track it. You need a facility to operate in. You need marketing to generate leads. You need sales to convert them. And then you’re back to production. If any part of that loop breaks down, your business stumbles.
Matthew Davis: So when we talk about systems, we’re not just being abstract. We’re helping people see that their business is a circle. And that circle can get tighter, faster, stronger—or it can get broken. That’s the mindset shift we’re trying to help business leaders make.
Mark Graban: One other thing I wanted to ask you about—especially as your firm has grown—is how you think about culture. Does culture connect to systems? Or does it stand apart?
Matthew Davis: Oh, it’s totally connected. We are a very culture-first firm. And here’s something that might surprise you: the legal profession is replete with narcissists and sociopaths—people with what psychologists would call cluster B personality disorders. And they’re not just on TV. They’re in courtrooms and firms all over the country.
Matthew Davis: The reason they’re drawn to law is because it gives them a license to act out. And I say that not flippantly—we’ve seen it. So we built our culture very intentionally to exclude those types of people. We’re a refuge for attorneys who just want to do good work in a healthy environment.
Matthew Davis: I tell people all the time: I’m in the attorney lifestyle business. If I can give great attorneys a place where they’re protected, supported, and have autonomy to master their craft, they’re going to take amazing care of our clients. That’s the loop. That’s the system.
Matthew Davis: To protect that, we’re really intentional in our hiring. We use Mark Murphy’s Hiring for Attitude. It’s a fantastic book, and Mark’s become a mentor and friend. We follow that framework to make sure we’re bringing in people who match our values, not just skill sets.
Mark Graban: That reminds me of Bob Sutton’s book The No Asshole Rule. Sounds like you’ve created your own version of that.
Matthew Davis: 100%. And early on, we made some mistakes. We hired a few narcissists because we didn’t yet have a filter. But once we got intentional and started applying Murphy’s tools, we really turned a corner.
Matthew Davis: You make a few hiring mistakes like that and you learn. Now, we’re clear-eyed. We ask ourselves: will this person bring positive energy? Will they take ownership of growth? Will they contribute to the culture, or chip away at it?
Matthew Davis: And by the way, we have rituals around this. Every Wednesday is WINSday—we celebrate successes. Every Friday, we have a firm huddle where we talk about what kicked our butts that week. We put it all on the table. That’s how we learn. That’s how we build trust and improvement into the culture.
Mark Graban: That’s a great rhythm. Celebrate the wins, and reflect on the setbacks. That fits right in with our theme here—learning from mistakes.
Matthew Davis: Exactly. And if we can learn as we go—individually and collectively—we get better faster. That’s really what it’s all about.
Mark Graban: So let’s close on a lighter note. You’ve mentioned the band a few times—Geriatric Steel. With everything else on your plate, how often do you actually get to play?
Matthew Davis: Honestly, we haven’t played a live gig in over a year. Last year was a tough one—I lost my COO to a heart attack on January 31st. That was a huge blow. So we had to recalibrate a lot of things internally. But I think later this year, we’ll get back to it.
Matthew Davis: We’ve got a good demo tape already, and we’re planning to record another one. It’s a creative outlet for me. I still love it. The songs just keep coming—about middle age, teenage kids, fighting gravity. It’s fun.
Mark Graban: Are any of the songs up on Spotify or anywhere else yet?
Matthew Davis: Not yet—but we need to. We really should. It’s just that I’ve got this thing called a law firm… and a family… and a writing schedule. But yeah, eventually we’ll get them out there.
Mark Graban: Well, I hope you do. I think a lot of people would get a kick out of it. Matthew, thank you again for being here and for sharing not just your lessons, but your framework and philosophy. It’s all incredibly useful and refreshingly clear.
Matthew Davis: Thank you, Mark. It’s been a pleasure. I love talking about this stuff—mistakes, systems, culture. And I appreciate the opportunity to be part of what you’re building.