“Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes, Turn & Face the Strange”
May 01, 2020
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It’s hard for me to read the word “change” without having David Bowie’s iconic song lyrics instantly start humming in the background. But change is the buzz word of the day, isn’t it? How will things change post-COVID? Will the legal industry change and in what way?
Pat Lamb and I are no strangers to change. As he notes in his blog post, we started Valorem Law Group in 2008 to bring alternative fees to the market when no one was talking about them. That move was change enough, but add a healthy dose of a recession on top, and you get a better sense of the change we faced then.
This crisis has remnants of the 2009 meltdown, but so much more. Not only is there the economic toll, but the personal and medical one as well. For law departments and law firms suddenly subject to the Ch-word, take comfort. Lots of people and organizations have successfully navigated change many, many times before, and, when equipped with the roadmap, the trip isn’t so bad. Here’s a good starting point from one of the wisest navigators I know.
Change is hard. Damned hard. But the results of change, effectively engineered and rigorously managed, can be fantastic. If you have a place you need to bring your team, tell them where that place is, what it looks like, and why it is important to get there. Make sure people understand how the change will help their lives. And then commit to the journey. Give people every chance to make the journey with you, but if someone prefers a different destination, you owe it to them and your organization to off-load them and help them find a journey they will enjoy.
https://www.patrickjlamb.com/2020/04/30/the-next-normal-is-the..
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