Comments on: A Clean Sheet of Paper

By: matthewcornell

matthewcornell — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 00:42:21 +0000

I love the clean sheet of paper idea. I have a colleague who uses a similar technique: WWPD (What Would Paper Do) for evaluating implementing new web sites.

By: Matthew Cornell

Matthew Cornell — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 20:42:21 +0000

I love the clean sheet of paper idea. I have a colleague who uses a similar technique: WWPD (What Would Paper Do) for evaluating implementing new web sites.

By: Quotes

Quotes — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 11:24:14 +0000

Just keep posts like this coming, I just love your blog.

By: Mark Gould

Mark Gould — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 13:20:58 +0000

I think you are right Jason. I have expanded on my thoughts in a blog post, but it hasn't appeared in the trackbacks: http://blog.tarn.org/2009/03/17/knowing-how-to-...

By: Knowing how to be disruptive « Enlightened tradition

Knowing how to be disruptive « Enlightened tradition — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 22:08:47 +0000

[...] Abraham has taken a look at what firms may need to do to see a clear way through the current economic crisis. Rather than focusing on what doesn’t seem [...]

By: VMaryAbraham

VMaryAbraham — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 16:25:31 +0000

Here's something to think about from Harvard Business Publishing:

"In a world turned economically upside down, there is a hitch. Deciding something implies having effective understanding (mental model) of how the world works and having enough data to get the right answer. But how things work is not understood today. How actions lead to outcomes is now unclear. New models have to be discovered to understand what to do.

`High velocity organizations' offer lessons about how to get new answers to old questions: What needs do markets have, what products and services will satisfy those needs, and what systems will deliver those items effectively and efficiently?"

http://blogs.harvardbusiness.org/cs/2009/03/how...

- Mary

By: VMaryAbraham

VMaryAbraham — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 15:35:59 +0000

You're onto something, Jason. I've often thought that in times like this, the lawyer really needs to inhabit the wise counselor role. In fact, sometimes we need to act more like therapists when it is necessary for the health of our client relationships.

I do hope that through this phase we can create the kind of relationships that allow us to engage in some audacious thinking with our clients. Otherwise, I'm not sure how we'll move the legal industry into a new mode of operating.

- Mary

By: VMaryAbraham

VMaryAbraham — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 15:32:10 +0000

Mary –

You're right to focus on the unique knowledge within the firm. It is a core strength. However, I'd suggest that it is just as important to assess how the firm handles that knowledge. It could be sitting on a gold mine and not know what to do with it. A firm with great knowledge processes can make something of little knowledge. A firm with great stores of knowledge and poor knowledge processes will inevitably waste its superior knowledge resources,

- Mary

By: VMaryAbraham

VMaryAbraham — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 15:20:38 +0000

You've raised the perennial problem, Neil. Lawyers are overly bound by their devotion to stare decisis! (Or, they just are naturally conservative.) In my experience, lawyers are willing to take their business in new directions (e.g., new practice areas, new client industries, etc.), but have a much harder time thinking about doing their business differently. Once KM moves beyond mere capture and collection, we necessarily start thinking about new ways of doing things and that's when we part company with our firms.

You are right that we're going to need new inputs in the conversation. In-house lawyers and outside lawyers share some fundamental background and training, which tends to set limits on the imagination if not handled properly. Adding people with completely different experiences in the mix could push our thinking in new directions. If we are lucky, the current crisis will force us to have those broader conversations.

- Mary

By: Jason Plant

Jason Plant — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 21:54:43 +0000

Interestingly Mary you may have answered Mark's question!

What do our clients want right now? Perhaps they just need a guide and a helping hand through an environment where the "ground is shifting under our feet as the economy restructures"?

Once they're out on more solid ground maybe then it'll be the guide they are more willing to work with to decide what next?