My regular readers know I listen to a lot of podcasts, and that one of my favorites is Freakonomics. A recent episode was titled “Has America Lost the Plot?”. It is a great episode, but the title itself gave me the inspiration for this post. Frankly, I think most of the law firm leaders I [...]
When I first studied mediation, it was from the “win-win” camp. I was encouraged to look for ways to build relationships in a dispute by finding common ground, and actively looking for ways to accommodate interests on both sides. Often, this results in more positive outcomes that can, going forward, actually strengthen the relationship between [...]
Gary Klein can tell law firms a lot about working under pressure and uncertainty. He is a research psychologist and pioneer of the field of naturalistic decision making, as well as author of (among others) the book “Seeing What Others Don’t”. People pay attention to this guy: his work is used by the US armed [...]
Through a recent podcast featuring 24-year-old Harvard-educated author Adam Aleksic on the influence of internet language, I was reminded of the incredible speed of change we are all now facing. Take, for example, use of the phrase “unalive” as a way of saying “dead” which might result in algorithmic censorship. Similarly, a watermelon now represents [...]
Decision-making is a key component of most leadership positions. Yet it can often be the leader’s greatest weakness, especially if they believe their job is to have all of the answers. This is particularly true of law firm leaders, who might believe the whole purpose of their role is to make those calls. Ultimately, a [...]
I live in Canada, but as a strategist, I’m fascinated by the lessons arising from the recent election down South. Specifically, I was shocked by how divided America is between two radially different ideologies. Honestly, they couldn’t be more different. And we’re facing the same thing in Canada. In BC, where I live, we recently [...]
Much of my practice is coaching Managing Partners, so believe me when I tell you I’ve heard and seen it all. This includes helping MPs to deal with the many different tactics their Partners and Associates might throw at them. On reflection, it struck me that sometimes, managing a law firm is a bit like [...]
I recently listened to a podcast called “Fail Better” featuring actor David Duchovny interviewing accomplished individuals and talking about how important failure can be. In this episode, he was interviewing Freakonomics writer and podcaster Steven Dubner and they posed the question: why is it that failure is the best lesson; why do we seem to [...]
I recently heard about this theory from the tech world, but I think it has relevance in the legal environment, as well. When a business first starts, it aims to produce a product or service that its members can feel good about. They want to be proud of what they have created, and the service [...]
This post is for law firm leaders as well as for senior managers. My last submission to SLAW focussed on ensuring you don’t alienate your law firm with your decision process. This one focusses on another barrier to firm success: bullies. Cutting my teeth as a law firm marketer, I was very aware of law [...]