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 need to fail in order to truly learn?  I think I know the answer.  It’s because we hate change, so we delay it as long as humanly possible.  And because of this, we only change when the pain of not changing is greater than the pain of changing.  We often wait until the last possible second, at which point we may barely scrape through, or we might, in fact, fail. Too little, too late.

My career is dedicated to helping law firms change before it gets painful.  We ideally do this through strategic planning – thinking about a future that doesn’t yet exist, and aiming to create the best possible version of that future.  We also do this through the creation and implementation of solid plans to ensure we are heading in the right direction, and taking those steps needed in order to make the strategic plan a reality in due course.

I think of planning as a positive step that can be taken to allow the firm to pursue a chosen future. I often equate this to getting an inoculation instead of suffering through the flu.  We create and pursue a plan that seeks to move the firm into the best possible position. We focus efforts on making the firm successful, and ensuring that everyone is happy and productive on the way to that successful outcome.  By doing so, we protect ourselves from any number of incidents that could have take the firm in the opposite direction.  But we can also use the concept of a vaccine to deal with more current issues facing a firm.

Something most people don’t know about me is that I have a fear of needles.  Years back, this caused me to hesitate in getting my annual flu vaccine, although my doctor had strongly recommended it for me.  When I inevitably got the flu, I went through it consciously. I thought about how my head was pounding, my stomach was upset, how dizzy and weak I felt, how I ached all over my body, and how those feelings took at least three days to resolve.  I promised myself that three seconds of discomfort are far preferable to enduring another three days of hell.  I’ve never missed a flu shot since.

I frequently meet with law firms that have gone through the same issues over and over again: departure of a Partner or some Associates, the unhappiness of staff around a particular issue, a client becoming upset over an action of the firm that might have been less than professional. But when I suggest we look at these incidents as potentially systemic issues and try to deal with them conceptually to ensure they never happen again, I’m given all sorts of reasons why we should bother.

  • Oh Heather, every single one of the 22 lawyers and staff who left us in the past three years had very good, personal reasons for doing so. It was nothing to do with the firm.
  • That client complained but honestly, it’s just because it’s a difficult client. Or it’s because the lawyer had a bad day.
  • Those Partners didn’t hit their budgets but they never do and everyone knows it. That won’t dampen the commitment by our other lawyers to hit their goals.

Firms are living, breathing organisms.  There are reasons for everything that happens in your firm. As a teacher of mine once said, someone’s behavior might not be sensible, but all behavior makes sense when you take the time to step back and analyze it.  Stop waiting until things are painful before you address issues. Use any discomfort or unrest in the firm as an opportunity to possibly inoculate your firm against a potential building illness.  Look at the incident or issue as if the firm might have erred in some way.  Consider what could be done to avoid that issue again (or at least decrease the chances of it happening again).   Figure out what your inoculation is. This could be a new policy or procedure, better communication, etc.

Stop waiting until life is painful before you make changes in the firm.  Vaccines are pro-active – be pro-active in your law firm management.  Get over your fear of change and instead, focus on how much easier it is to run a firm that is healthier.

Heather Gray-Grant is a business strategist, marketing expert and executive coach for law firms, lawyers and administrators.  She can be reached at heather@heathergraygrant.com