Finding a Problem to Your Solution

Last month I had a chance to exhibit at the Association of Legal Administrators. I had a great time meeting a bunch of people. One topic came up a number of times during the conference with the people I spoke to. They talked to me about how other projects they have implemented didn’t seem to have the impact that they had anticipated having. Then others were telling me about the upcoming projects that they were doing.

In each of these cases I realized that sometimes we go straight to the solution without understanding what problem we are trying to solve. And by going straight to the solution we end up not really solving anything because we didn’t know what we were trying to solve. I know that I’ve been guilty of this before.

I heard a quote from Albert Einstein once which goes something like, “If I had an hour to solve a problem, I would spend 55 minutes thinking about what the problem is and 5 minutes coming up with the solution.”

I have found that sometimes we tend to jump to a solution before understanding the problem. It is like we create a solution and try to come up with a problem that the solution solves. This is why I’ve seen many technology initiatives fail in law firms. They don’t always understand what the problem is first or what problem they are trying to solve for their clients.

Once we know what the root of the problem is then we can come up with the right solution. If you are interested in talking through what problem you are trying to solve, let me know. I’m good at helping people figure out the root of the problem. You can contact me by phone at 801-766-3183.

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Pathway to Success Step 5 – Innovation

You probably already hear a lot of talk about innovation.  And it probably sounds something like. “You need to innovate in your law firm or you will be left behind.”  My guess is that when you hear this you wonder what innovation is. You probably also think, “Everything has been working for our firm so far. Why change?”

So what is innovation?  When I think of innovation it’s about how to solve problems and the process that you go through to solve those problems.  In order to solve a problem and innovate you first need to determine what problem you are trying to solve. Once you know what the problem is then you can follow the rest of the Pathway to Success model by Testing, Understanding, and Doing.

Think about what Thomas Edison went through as he was trying to solve the problem of how to create a better way to light a building. He decided to create a light bulb. You may not be aware, but it took him 10,000 different designs before he finally got one that worked.  He followed the Test, Understand, and Do model, which will I will talk more about in the coming weeks.

You might be wondering whether you need to innovate at all in your law firm. I strongly agree that you need to innovate in your law firm. The reason is that there are signs in the legal market place that are showing that staying with the current way of running a law firm will likely not work 5 to 10 years from now.

Here are some of the things I see happening.

  • There is real movement towards the communization of legal services.  Firms that work with corporate clients are starting to see this. Gone are the days where you if you are the only firm in town that you are the only option. With the internet and with companies looking at ways to save money, we are seeing a trend of companies willing to shop around for legal services.
  • The internet has changed how your potential clients find information. We now live in a DIY world where you can find anything you want to find on the internet.  Studies are showing that the middle class is using law firms less than they used to.

Now is the time to start innovating before it’s too late and your competition has already passed you.  If you would like more help in understanding how to innovate in your firm or if you have an idea that you want to put into practice, call us at (801) 766-3183 and we can work with you on your next innovation project.

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Pathway to Success Step 4– Teamwork

A couple weeks ago, I was at the Association of Legal Administrators conference.  On a number of occasions I heard about the topic of silos and individuals when discussing what is happening in law firms.  I’ve also seen this in many of the law firms that I’ve visited with over the past 10 years.

Consequently, as I have developed the Pathway to Success model for achieving goals I purposely put the word teamwork into the template.  Here is what I picture as the ideal team and how it would work in a law firm.

Maybe the place to start is looking at why working as a team matters.  Well, studies over the past several years have shown that people who work as team are able to accomplish more than those who work individually. I find that when a firm is working in silos and its focus is on the individual, ideas are not shared, and problems that are happening don’t get addressed.

This is because everyone is more concerned about their own work, leadership and training of other people in the firm doesn’t happen, and the list could go on. But you get the point.

Developing a team mentality will help your firm achieve your goals.  When teams work together problems can be solved, ideas are shared, associates are mentored, paralegals get all of the information they need to do their jobs, and so on.  Each of these has an outcome that leads to higher productivity and greater profitability.

So next time you think about what your practice should look like consider the benefits of having a team working together to achieve your goals.

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Pathway to Success Step 3 – Alignment

You may be asking what alignment has to do with achieving goals and being successful in your practice. The answer is that alignment is a key component to success. Let me describe for you what alignment means.

Alignment occurs when your goals adhere to what you say you’re doing. For example, if your firm says that you are family-friendly, then you need to act family-friendly. You also need to define what family-friendly means.

Does it mean that your team can take a break from work and go see a school play? Does it mean that you only work so many hours in a day and that’s how you are structured? You need to define what you say your culture is and ensure that your actions are in alignment with that culture.

The problem that we find, and this is the case not just in law firms, that a firm will say that it believes in one thing and then its actions don’t show they believe what they said.

The effect on your team when you are in alignment with what you say your culture is can be powerful. Alignment helps you retain your talent. It also makes it possible that your team will give you their best, because they know what your values are and they are able to agree with those values. Plus, this helps when you hire new people. They can discover what your firm’s culture really is so that the both of you can make a decision on if working there is the right fit.

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