You Cannot Predict Results – You Can Control Behaviours!Yes, law firms appear to be facing a new "normal" arising due to the pandemic, generational changes, and heightened client self-awareness.Firms have faced challenges in the past and met and beat these challenges which have resulted in greater prosperity and professional satisfaction. Yes, outcomes seem less predictable than in the past. However, one prediction holds true – Albert Einstein's definition of insanity – “Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Solutions to both past and present challenges have and will be solved by changes in behaviour. The remainder of this article identifies three main challenges that need to be met in 2021, and these require an adjustment in behaviour. Practice Approach The number of professionals working from home (“WFH”) has had a direct impact on the delivery of legal services. In particular, the requirement for teamwork (includes collaboration, cloud-based applications, shared work product, etc.) has been elevated to a level not previously experienced. Many lawyers, regardless of their firm size, have essentially practised as a solo. Now, when thrust into the current “normal”, they are confronted with the need to function within a team. The challenges for such a transition include the following behaviour changes:
One of the key obstacles to embracing teamwork is “culture”. This inherently requires an adjustment to a firm's culture. A simplistic but functional definition of culture is the way that:
From this definition, it warrants how culture can be either the greatest enabler or disabler of teamwork, particularly in these vexing times. In short, the interdependency of consistency, mission, adaptability, and involvement must be flexible to ensure a strong culture. Like anything, too much of a good thing can become a weakness. The “new normal” requires an immediate, ongoing rebalancing of this interdependency which can only be accomplished by a change in behaviour. Management Historically, many law firms' organizational management structure have been centralized. Under centralization, the key decisions are implemented and executed by the top-level management. As a result of WFH, firms and their leaders have had to embrace, with varying degrees of success, a more decentralized organizational structure. Decentralization is a type of organizational structure in which daily operations and decision-making responsibilities are delegated by top management (lawyers) to non-lawyer management. This frees up top management to focus more on critical issues like engagement (lawyers and clients), finances, and productivity.
Managing transformative behavioural change is challenging for a decentralized organizational structure. To undertake transformative change, leaders need to act as change agents while addressing psychological implications and showing results. Few of the current lawyer leaders have been educated or trained in being change agents. One of the best time-tested approaches to institutionalizing change was developed by Professor John P. Kotter. He is the Konosuke Matsushita Professor of Leadership, Emeritus, at the Harvard Business School, an author, and the founder of Kotter International, a management consulting firm based in Seattle and Boston. He is a thought leader in business, leadership, and change. His 8-Step Process for Leading Change1 is as follows:
By placing more faith and reliance on non-lawyer management, firms are playing to their firm's strengths – legally trained professionals practicing law and management trained professionals dealing with the firm's business operations.
Reputation The existence of “800-pound gorillas” in law firms has likely been around since the first partnership. Historically no one wanted to talk about it for fear of appearing weak or simply wanting to suffer their embarrassment in silence. So there is no misunderstanding, I am heavily in favour of a fair evaluation of the varying contributions different partners make to a firm's prosperity. However, it should not be at the humiliation of other lawyers and staff in the firm. The presence of bullying in a firm is no longer being contained within their four walls. Firm's reputations with both clients and lawyers are being negatively impacted as tolerance for such behaviour is universally decreasing. Even if their behaviour can be self-justified with external parties, the impact bullying has on both internal morale and productivity cannot be underestimated. The types of behaviour that need to be confronted and then change- supported include: (not a definitive list)
These bad behaviours are not limited to in-person scenarios. However, in light of the more decentralized structures, many firms have experienced an increase in bullying via emails, text messages, voicemails, and videos. The definitive book, No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One2 That Isn't, identifies the traits of bullies and how to deal with them. There are two traits that the author, Professor Robert Sutton, PhD and professor of management science and engineering at Standford University, articulates for identifying if someone qualifies as an “Asshole” within your firm:
Conclusion While there is no known source, I would leave you with this simple truism –
Stephen Mabey is a CPA, CA and the Managing Director of Applied Strategies, Inc. Stephen's focus is on law firms in general and on small to medium size law firms in particular. He has written about and advised on, a wide range of issues including – leadership, business development, marketing, key performance indicators, strategic planning, mergers, practice acquisitions, competitive intelligence, finance, mergers, practice transitioning, compensation, organizational structures, succession and transition planning, partnership arrangements and firm retreats. In 2013, Stephen was inducted as a Fellow of the College of Law Practice Management in recognition of his sustained commitment to the highest standards of professionalism in law practice management. For more information, visit appliedstrategies.ca or connect with Stephen Mabey on LinkedIn. |