ACCELERATOR 4

Think Beyond Legal

THOUGHTS

Having been exposed over the years to ideas and practices from many different disciplines, a question that often comes to me is:

How much greater impact could a firm have in the marketplace if it widened its lens and drew on established knowledge from other disciplines?

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I could never be a lawyer. What you all do is so complex and intense. Yet perhaps because legal work demands such rigorous thinking, I notice that other schools of thought often remain at the edges, even when they could add significant breadth.

Law firms have a great deal to gain by adding that knowledge to both firmwide strategy and individual practice.

That is what I mean by Thinking Beyond Legal.

KNOW YOUR LAWYERS | PSYCHOLOGY + BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE

Lawyers often tell me my psychological background uncovers something they had not seen about what is keeping them from moving forward. Psychology adds the “who we are” dimension to how lawyers and firms think about where they are going.

RELATIONSHIP SPEAK | SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

One of the questions I hear most is, “What should I say?” Social psychology brings knowledge about listening, trust, influence, social cues, and the “human talk” that draws people into conversation.

THE POWER OF THE WHOLE | ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY

The moment the elevator doors open, I can often sense whether a firm’s people are moving together or in different directions. Organizational psychology offers ways to weave individual strengths into the power of the whole.

THE HEALTH PARTNERSHIP | HEALTH DISCIPLINES

Of course lawyers get sick. Health disciplines bring evolving knowledge about prevention, treatment, recovery, and changing health needs into firm thinking. Beneath the practical questions sits an important human one: Do They Care About Me?

BUILD THE BRIDGES | SOCIOLOGY

I often coach people in the same firm who barely know one another and find myself saying, “You two should talk.” Sociology offers ways to see where relationships are strong, thin, or missing and create more of those high-impact connections.

DON’T STOP AT INTERESTING

“Interesting” can be a thought stopper. Instead, ponder: What does this mean for us? Where could we apply it? What might we do differently?

Then give one idea a small try. Evaluate it. Change it. Try again.

That is the growing edge. Plunge away.