legal sanity

When it comes to the topic of (re)designing client-centric legal services, I’ve found a muse in Spike Jones. One of the visionaries at Brains on Fire, a company at the crossroads of identity development and word of mouth marketing, Spike helps organizations build movements.

Having drawn from his observations a bunch of times, I was delighted to have the chance to talk to Spike about his work and how it relates to the law. We opened the conversation by recognizing that we’re kindred spirits of sorts in that lawyers belong to the #1 most mistrusted profession while advertisers rank at #2.

AH: What’s the essence of your work at Brains on Fire?

SJ: We specialize in creating word of mouth movements by helping organizations roll up their sleeves and forge deep connections with their customers and employees.

AH: Can this work for modern-day law firms?

SJ: Well, I’ll use our company as an example of why it can. Marketing firms, even niche ones, are commodities. For each one, there are thousands of others doing the same thing. At Brains on Fire, we differentiate ourselves by trying really hard to make sure people know who we are and what we stand for. We got rid of time sheets, which are standard in our industry. This was huge. We try to embrace our kindred spirits by offering resources to a range of people - even those who won’t end up working with us; even our competitors. Differentiation happens when people come to you because you’re the thought leader who has new ideas and is trying new things.

AH: I can see this approach working for a smaller law firm. But, I wonder if it can work for bigger firms.

SJ: It can. Big companies like Microsoft are doing it. We call it opening the kimono. They’ve given hundreds, if not thousands, of their employees the freedom to blog on company time. In this way, they’re connecting with customers, each other and others in very authentic and meaningful ways. They’re letting people see Microsoft for the bumps and bruises it has, as well as the stuff it does really well. Southwest Airlines has a similarly open company culture. It starts on the inside, with this willingness to give individual employees their voice.

AH: This kind of transparency, this willingness to expose bumps, bruises and missteps, doesn’t seem to exist right now in the legal profession. Firms are very guarded and, at best, give their lawyers limited freedom to blog on the firm’s time.

SJ: This is huge. Companies are made up of people and people are fallible. When you go around saying “our company never messes up,” people see right through that and they can’t wait for you to mess up because then they can call you on it. So, if you say, “look, we don’t do this well, but the only way we can get better is with your help,” this is a refreshing entry into a conversation that goes on with or without you.

AH: I love that “we need your help.” It’s a wonderful way for law firms to engage their clients and employees. These are people who want to step up and be valuable and important.

SJ: Yes, and this plays into the point that there’s a need inside people to be part of something that’s bigger than they are. The firms who figure this out win. You’re no longer a law firm made up of lawyers, you’re a law firm made up of people. And people connect with people.

AH: Yes, that’s right. When you connect with other human beings in meaningful ways, you’re no longer a commodity. You’re a service provider in the true sense.

This was a very inspiring dialogue and I thank Spike for offering his insights on how law firms can engage clients and employees to ignite a movement.

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I’ve been interested in psychologist Daniel Goleman’s work since reading his book on Emotional Intelligence years ago.

Along with thinkers like:

Dan Pink 

Hugh MacLeod 

Kathy Sierra 

Chris Brogan

Tim Sanders 

Pam Slim 

Goleman has inspired me to look at the legal profession through a broader social-cultural lens.

As a culture, we’re becoming more and more right-brained in orientation. We now place a premium on authenticity, emotion, creativity, meaning and honesty in our personal and professional interactions.

In a recent post for Harvard Business, Goleman writes that consumers are calling for a new kind of openness - a radical transparency that “converts the chains that link every product and its multiple impacts — carbon footprints, chemicals of concern, treatment of workers and the like — into a force that counts in sales.”

To keep up with this demand, Goleman notes, businesses should engage their consumer community (in the law, this would be a firm’s clients, lawyers and non-legal staff) and make it easy for community members to offer feedback and comments. If they drop the ball on this front, big brother is ready to step up in the form of open mike watchdog sites like GetSatisfaction.com.

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The other day, I passed by the Shake Shack in NYC’s Madison Square Park. The crowd was thick. But, as always, people seemed more than willing to wait it out for a delectable burger or frozen treat. As I watched the scene, I caught myself thinking, “Another amazing experience brought to you by Danny Meyer.”

A restaurateur of major note, Meyer has multiple long-lived, successful eateries in a city filled with very discerning palates. In a recent talk he gave at NYU Stern, he attributed his success, in part, to “enlightened hospitality” – a focus on how the delivery of a product or service makes its recipient feel. He said you have to make customers feel that you’re on their side.

Interestingly, he also noted that, when it comes to creating a hospitable business culture, you first have to extend hospitality to the people who work for you. Only after setting this foundation can you extend it to others - like your customers, suppliers and investors.

This idea of hospitality makes a lot of sense to me and I think it's very relevant to the law. I’ve always believed that a positive law firm culture roots in a positive employee (legal and non-legal) experience. So, law firms looking to build - or rebuild - their business environment would do well to take Meyer’s lead into the hospitality business.

For more on creating a positive consumer experience (lawyers, after all, are prime consumers of law firm culture), you can take a look at these posts and articles:

Triage Customer Service

How to Nurture Relationships with Your Gem Clients

Coddle and Keep Customers 

A Lesson from the Dentist

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Do you have a Michigan Wolverines trash can or plastic helmet (you know, the blue wolverine that sits on your head)? I did …. until they met an ill fate at the hands of someone who just doesn’t understand what it means to sing Hail to the Victors until your heart pounds and tears well up.

Even though this week marks the 25^th anniversary of my college graduation, time and space haven't changed how I feel about the institution (and its football team). I’m not the tattoo kind. But, if I were, my one and only one would read, Go Blue!. Yes, I’m forever part of the University of Michigan tribe. And, judging by our conversations over the years and at this milestone moment, my college friends are, too.

I’ve been posting on this kind of tribal affiliation lately and thinking about how it applies to the law, in general, and to law firm culture, in particular. Especially in these unsettled -  and unsettling - times, law firms need to foster the connecting points between lawyer and non-lawyer employees at every level. But, as this thoughtful piece points out, it’s not a matter of manufacturing connections and building a tribe. The real question is: “Do [we] have a community and how can [we] harness it?”

If you’re a law firm leader and you’re not sure if you have a tribal community (or communities) to harness, you’ll find some good guidance in this slideshow based on Seth Godin’s latest book, Tribes. Godin sheds some more light on the matter in a recent Wired interview and in this blog post on tribe management.

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I grew up and live just outside New York City.

In the days and weeks after 9/11, I felt so sad. It was not just the personal loss I experienced. It was a more pervasive feeling that the world as I knew it no longer existed. My foundation of safety and security – the foundation I was working so hard to build and sustain for my young family – had been rocked.

At the same time, I couldn’t help but notice the sense of community and camaraderie that was rising. We’ve all heard and read moving stories of strangers helping each other and people’s amazing generosity of time, energy and spirit. As it was facing the reality of the day and trying to move on and heal, a culture of connection grew in New York City.

In the last post I wrote here pre-hiatus, I reengaged the topic of creating a connection culture in the law. With the downturn in our economy and within the legal profession, the need for this kind of culture is greater than ever. And so is the opportunity for creating it. As firms take a good hard look at the state of their business, they can and should consider the state of their business culture. If it’s in disarray, steps can be taken to understand what’s wrong and make positive changes.

I just read Peter D. Zeughauser’s take on Four Essential Elements of a Strong Law Firm Culture. Launching from the premise that “successful growth can only be accomplished from a position of strength, broadly defined to include a culture that breeds partners who are in it for each other, not just themselves,” he identifies the essential four as:

• Hard work
• Rewards for rainmakers
• Knowing who you are (and who you aren’t)
• Transparency, with discretion

While Zeughauser provides valuable insight into the partner side of the connection culture, firms also have to consider how to bring their associates into the cultural mix. According to consultant Susan Letterman White, one way to do this is to encourage and create avenues for peer-to-peer coaching.

According to White, peer-to-peer coaching differs from more traditional lawyer coaching (full disclosure: one of my professional hats is business coach for lawyers) and lawyer mentoring in that:

Peer-to-peer coaching is [ ] between two people who are at the same or similar levels within the law firm. The intention of the relationship is to mutually and similarly benefit the peers, unlike traditional coaching or mentoring, where the primary benefit is intended for the less experienced person. By working together to make sense of particular problems, gaps in knowledge or needed skill development, each person learns about his or her strengths and weaknesses and those of the other. Together the pair learns how to change weaknesses into strengths and use opportunities for development. This benefits the individuals and the law firm.

I’ve always been a big proponent of mutuality in business relationships. The mutuality that peer-to-peer coaching fosters will only solidify the sense of community and common purpose that are key connecting points for firm lawyers.

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