Lots of people think that if you can just tap into the magical fountain of motivation – either for themselves or their employees – life would be a lot simpler. That may be true, but perhaps we give motivation a little too...more
Here’s an idea for LPM leadership. We’ll welcome spring with the ending of our three-part series on charisma. Again, we recommend viewing the Simon Sinek video that forms the basis for this series. It’s both entertaining and...more
What’s the big deal about charisma? It’s simple. Many charismatic leaders can mobilize their followers and inspire them to create a stronger, more profitable alliance. But that’s not true of every person with charisma. There...more
Charisma, like extroversion, may be highly overrated. You don’t need to be charismatic to inspire people, at least according to leadership consultant Simon Sinek, one of my favorite authors and speakers....more
There are all kinds of reasons to have a visceral “oh hell no” reaction to a production about Barbie, the least of which is the inane movie trailer featuring Margot Robbie in Pantone 219C and some of the 50 other shades of...more
You have an LPM initiative to launch. What’s churning in those lawyerly heads? You’re not the boss of me. Dr. Larry Richard, founder of LawyerBrain and leading expert on the psychology of lawyer behavior, has told us for many...more
Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg and Barack Obama are pretty obvious examples. Oprah Winfrey and Elon Musk? Not so much. But they all share a much-aligned and frequently misunderstood personality trait. If you guessed that they...more
As any Manhattanite will tell you, it doesn’t take long to walk 10 short north-south blocks. It’s less than half a mile. But when you’re under 770,000 tons of hard rock, it’s a very long distance. That was the scene in...more
You’ve probably heard of Brené Brown. She has an intriguing combination of books and Ted Talks on leadership, vulnerability, and a host of other things. She’s also a sober alcoholic, an ex-Catholic, and, according to her...more
Gotta love Simon Sinek. We do. Not only because he’s a great storyteller, but also because of the relevance of his stories to LPM. In both part 1 and part 2 of the series, we talked about Sinek’s take on the golden circle, a...more
In part 1 of our series, we talked about the significance of why for any high-performing law firm. Success is not about how phenomenal your lawyers are and the impressive list of clients. Rather, it’s about delivering value....more
When it comes to forming new habits, everyone wants instantaneous results. But habit formation is not a matter of simple execution. According to James Clear’s bestseller, Atomic Habits: An Easy and Proven Way to Build Good...more
Legal project management is all about improving your outcomes. Many firms have an enviable client roster, a strong track record, and deep practice expertise. But competition today is not so much about a stellar reputation and...more
In the words of the late, great baseball Yankees Hall of Famer, Yogi Berra, “It’s like deja vu all over again.” That’s how it seems at times with legal project management (LPM). I’ve been writing about LPM and legal process...more
Innovate or die, they said. Well, you have a chief innovation officer, don’t you? Whether you do or you don’t, it turns out that innovation isn’t so easy. For one thing, it could require a level of risk that many law firm...more
Few people attend law school with the vision of spending most of their days on document review. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. But for many lawyers a good day’s work involves building great defense strategies,...more
They are looming, bolder than ever, ready to either take your lunch money or swap your cupcake for a tuna sandwich. ALSPs have a seat at the table, and they’re not going away. According to the 2021 study by the Thomson...more
According to the 2021 study by the Thomson Reuters Institute, nearly 80 percent of firms and 71 percent of law departments surveyed have used ALSPs at one time or another. When you work with ALSPs, here are a few tips you...more
Decision fatigue. It actually is a thing. It has been a subject of articles and studies for decades. An article in New York Times Magazine focused on it nearly 10 years ago. And in case you are ever incarcerated, your...more
People crave normalcy right now. Yet, here you come with a new initiative. But despite everything, this may be the perfect opportunity for your firm to take a different approach. If you have a strong sense of purpose and a...more
Law firms no longer have a choice. They used to. When markets were stable, and profits were rising across the industry, it was challenging to make a compelling case for change. Never mind that many that did are in enviable...more
Everything is a process, even, as the pandemic reminds us, hand hygiene. [ALSPs and Hygiene] We use a myriad of processes in our work, some good, some not so good. The best processes are efficient, predictable, even...more
When my son was born, he was only four pounds. So, he had to spend a few days in the NICU learning how to breathe, swallow, and all of that important baby stuff. Each time I entered the nursery, I had to follow…
Originally...more
Law firms no longer have a choice. They used to. When markets were stable, and profits were rising across the industry, it was challenging to make a compelling case for change. Never mind that many that did are in enviable...more
You are here… resolutely navigating through the second half of the year 2020, arguably, one of the most memorable eras in modern history. Clearly, there is no better time to redefine success. While the world stood still,...more