It took only three days in barristers' chambers for a young Patrick Lewis to decide the law was not for him.
The only member of the family that founded the John Lewis Partnership now working in the business found himself in a real-life Jarndyce and Jarndyce, the interminable legal wrangle at the heart of Charles Dickens's Bleak House.
"I was trapped in a very small room, which I shared with a chain smoker," Lewis said, recalling his first job after graduating from Christ Church, Oxford.
"I diligently read all the case notes, but the litigation had been going on for 10 years already. It became obvious that keeping the case going was the best thing to do because it earned fees. I soon realised that where I get my kicks is making things happen."
Then followed spells at Bain, the hothouse management consultancy ("very intense"), at Insead for an MBA at the top French business school ("I needed a bit of breathing space"), and at Procter & Gamble, working on soap suds and make-up ("I just loved cosmetics").
Advertisement
It was at P&G that the Old Etonian caught the retail bug that led him 15 years ago to follow in the footsteps of his father and grandfather and join the business that was founded in Oxford Street, central London, in 1864.
In 1929 his great uncle John Spedan Lewis had handed over ownership of the business to its employees, creating a capitalist-style collective that shares its profits with its workers - or partners, as they are called.
Patrick Lewis's first day at the chain was on the tills in High Wycombe. He moved through gifts and pictures - at Peter Jones, the flagship second store in Chelsea - carpets, audio-visuals and running stores, in a journey that took in Welwyn, Watford and Cheadle, before he rose to become retail director in charge of trading at the group that includes 27 John Lewis stores and 210 Waitrose supermarkets and operates under the catchline "never knowingly undersold".
So there was surprise in February when Lewis joined the board as "partnership counsellor". His role is to ensure the business that turned over £6.9 billion last year is being run for the benefit of the 69,000 partners. They shared £125.5m between them (about seven weeks' pay, or 13% of salary) in 2008.
"I didn't exactly throw my hand up for the job," Lewis admitted, "but the more I thought about it, the more I thought this is a real opportunity to make a difference."
Advertisement
Sceptics have suggested the role could turn Lewis into a management stooge who bears bad news from the boardroom to the partners. He believes he can be a partners' champion with the staff having a direct line to him.
"There is an element of the independent director to my role," he said. "So when the execs are building up a plan there is someone there to be independent on behalf of the partners. After all, they are our shareholders."
With disillusion rife over the short-term outlook of many companies and big bonuses paid to failed bosses, Lewis believes the partnership's approach is more relevant than ever.
"We still call it an experiment, even today. It keeps us alive to the thought that we shouldn't just assume the way we set it up more than 50 years ago is the right way for now," said Lewis, who lists "getting out a rusty clarinet to play music with the family" as a hobby as well as tennis and squash.
"Over the past six months there has been a greater awareness that elements of the way that a typical company is set up may not be the right answer. Our model is a capitalist model, but it is about being commercially successful in a very competitive industry and that there are 69,000 people who work together to make a very successful business."
Advertisement
John Lewis was Britain's third-largest private firm by sales, according to The Sunday Times Top Track 100 last year.
Lewis wants to create a culture where the staff feel comfortable challenging what the business is doing. "I am building on what we have done in the past. It doesn't need revolution, but there is a big untapped potential here," he said.
So does he have an eye on the top job? "This is a job that I need a really long run at. Success for me in five years would be for our partners to feel they really have a much stronger influence over their day-to-day working life," he said. "It has never been the attitude here - 'you are a Lewis, one day you are going to run the show'.
"What I really love about this business is that the partners don't think like that."