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A few weeks ago, a friend shared a piece of advice with me that he got from a longstanding firm partner — one of those guys who has a way of distilling life into one-liners that hit harder than any management book.
My friend was talking about a personal relationship he was struggling with. He wasn't married; it was a dating relationship that kept dragging on as he tried to rationalize why it might eventually work out. The older partner, who'd been married for decades, listened quietly, before telling my friend, "Son, a yellow light never turns green."
That line stuck with me. The more I thought about it, the more I thought about my own business. Every accounting firm partner I know has a few yellow lights in their practice — things that aren't completely broken but aren't working well either. Yellow lights linger in that middle zone of "Maybe it'll improve," but end up quietly slowing everything down — like a yellow light that takes forever to change.
And the truth is those yellow lights never turn green.
In most firms, yellow lights show up in three areas — people, clients and technology/processes. If you can name your firm's yellow lights, you're halfway to freeing them up.
When 'Maybe they'll turn it around' becomes the default
Let's start with people.
Ask any partner to describe a "yellow light" team member, and you'll likely get the same story:
- They're good, not great.
- They do just enough to avoid serious issues.
- They've got potential — if only they'd apply it
So, you keep that yellow light team member on the payroll. You coach, you rationalize, you lower the bar a little. You tell yourself, "After busy season," or "Once they get through training" things will be better.
But here's the reality: High performers are watching. They notice when leadership tolerates mediocrity, and that quietly erodes the firm's culture. The A players get frustrated by inertia while the B-minus players settle in content with the status quo.
A yellow-light employee doesn't just hold back their own performance — they clog up the intersection for everyone else. If you're honest, you know which team members fall into the yellow light category. The question isn't whether they'll change. It's whether you're ready to make a long-overdue personnel change.
When familiarity outweighs fit
There's a similar trap with clients. We all have clients who were a great fit at first and no longer are. Over time, their needs, expectations or pricing haven't evolved with the firm. They're not bad clients; they're just no longer aligned with where your firm is going.
You tell yourself it's fine — you've worked with them for years, they're loyal and they refer people. But meanwhile, they consume lots of hours that could be spent serving clients who truly value your work.
A yellow-light client rarely becomes a green one. They usually end up red — complaining about fees, missing deadlines or demanding services outside the scope of your agreement.
Letting yellow light clients go, or reshaping the engagement, feels uncomfortable at first. But almost every partner I've talked to tells me the same thing afterward: "I wish I'd done it sooner." Freeing up those hours is what creates room for the next great relationship — the one that fits your future, not your past.
When 'good enough' becomes the roadblock
Technology might be the most common yellow light in professional service firms today. Maybe it's your tax software, workflow tool or document system. Those tools "work OK," but they don't work well. You've patched, customized and trained new hires to live with their quirks. You keep saying, "We'll change them after busy season." But there's always another busy season around the corner and the inertia continues.
That's the hidden cost of yellow-light tech — it's not just the software price tag; it's the opportunity cost of friction. Every hour spent fixing glitches or manually reconciling reports is an hour not spent growing, marketing or developing your team.
The most progressive firms I know set aside intentional time each year to audit their systems. They don't ask, "Is it broken?" They ask, "Is this the system we'd choose today if we were starting from scratch?"
If the answer is no, that's a yellow light you should address ASAP.
Before it turns red
A yellow light isn't dangerous because it stops you — it's dangerous because it doesn't stop you. A yellow light keeps you moving just enough to feel like you're making progress even though you're not.
Just like with driving, if you wait too long, every yellow light eventually turns red. The underperforming employee quits at the worst time. The misaligned client blows up during tax season. The outdated system crashes right when you need it most.
The lesson isn't to be ruthless. It's to be decisive.
When you clear your firm's yellow lights, something interesting happens: New opportunities come your way. You make better hires, your workflows get smoother, and higher-value clients start coming your way — all because you have made space for them.
A yellow light never turns green. But when you stop waiting for it, the rest of your business can move ahead. What is your firm doing to address the yellow lights in your people, clients and technology/processes? I'd
