Technology

Why Innovation Beats Invention

Innovation and invention are two different things, as columnist David Perla explains.

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David Perla

David Perla

I was moved to write this column by the story of Jack Chen, a rather amazing lawyer at Google. If you want to understand where I’m coming from—or if you just want to be inspired—check it out before proceeding further.

Video: Here’s How Google’s Blind Lawyer Does His Job

I told you it would be worth your time.

That video stirred plenty of thoughts for me, as I imagine it does for everyone. My own reaction unfolded in three parts. First, I felt a great admiration for Jack. Second, I felt a keen appreciation for the very surmountable nature of the logistical and physical “challenges” that I sometimes lament in my own life. (Put another way, by comparison to Jack I felt incredibly lazy, and unproductive.) And third, I began to reflect on larger lessons that Jack’s experience can teach us.

With regard to those larger lessons, perhaps most obviously Jack provides yet another argument for the value of inclusiveness in the legal profession. Specifically, he attests to the contributions that can be made by “non-typical professionals,” too many of whom get directed away from big law firms and “toward government work, advocacy organizations or solo and small-firm employment, often with disability-related practices,” according to this ABA Journal article.  There’s more to say on that point, but I am going to move beyond it here in order to talk about a different subject: innovation. (N.B.:  My children’s school uses the expression “non-typical learners” to describe students whose learning needs, abilities, and experiences differ from the proverbial “typical,” and I’m borrowing the phrase here – the word “disability” strikes me and others as inaccurate and problematic, to say the least.)

It’s clear to me that Jack Chen is an innovator. More than that, he reminds me of the true meaning of that word—which I believe can and should be kept in mind by individual lawyers, law firms, and legal organizations.

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Before I heard of Jack Chen, if you told me of a totally blind lawyer working at the very highest levels of the profession, I would have believed it—while waiting for the other shoe to drop. That is, I would have expected to hear of some new technological invention that was making the practice of law more feasible for the blind lawyer. To some degree, I think that’s how we are programmed to think now. Perhaps it’s the fact that inventions are coming at us with such frequency. Perhaps it is the hysteric attention given to new product releases (iPhone 7, anyone?). Perhaps it’s something else entirely. Whatever the reason, the fact remains that we’re accustomed to seeking answers to our problems and needs in new technologies and in new inventions.

But innovation and invention are two different things.

Watching the report, I was taken with the fact that Jack’s solutions to the obstacles he faces seemed to involve well-understood technology, adapted for Jack, but widely available. For instance, his technique for inhaling unbelievable amounts of information—letting him read at a pace of 620 words per minute—relies on nothing more exotic than text-to-voice technology and a fast-forward button. I hope Jack doesn’t mind me saying that his brand of innovation appears to owe more to MacGyver than Steve Jobs. Make no mistake, that’s a compliment. It’s impressive to see him using just his own creativity and already-existing tools to so greatly expand the universe of “What’s Possible” for himself as a lawyer.

I’m thankful to him for reminding me that innovation is frequently not about invention as much as it is about adaptation and ingenuity. Which made me wonder: Can I apply some of that ingenuity to my own life and work? How can I use the wealth of tools available to me right now to become a more efficient, productive, and happier performer? Since watching Jack’s story, I’ve been considering major aspects of my workday, and trying to think boldly about how I might optimize them. Should I have my emails read to me? Should I find a method of commuting or tools to use during my commute that allow me to get vastly more work done before I arrive at my desk?

Interestingly, in the video, Jack explains that getting to work, for him, is like running ten miles before starting a marathon, noting that his cane provides only a four foot radius of information. Yet we already have driverless cars, high precision GPS (admittedly requiring satellite coverage), and similar active location technology, leading me to wonder how long it will be until that technology evolves and adapts to help people like Jack vastly expand their effective radius of information and reduce the effort it takes just to get to work.

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The questions, and the stakes, are heightened at the organizational level. Law firms that ask themselves how innovative they can be very well may reap the largest rewards in coming years. Historically, law firms have not been under great pressure, internally or externally, to work efficiently. But just as Jack Chen’s disability drove his pursuit of creative solutions, current conditions—including the aftermath of the recession, greater pricing pressure by corporate clients, and even the emergence of AI-driven legal solutions—are focusing law firms on the need to deliver more efficient services. Many firms are already benefiting from a focus on process improvement and Six Sigma management techniques.

Likewise, as leaders of one of the major vendors in the legal industry, my team and I often spend our time considering and developing (or acquiring) new inventions. But I wonder if we spend nearly enough time focusing on innovating through adaptation, through connecting existing technologies in new and more useful ways. Our heads of product and engineering regularly remind our team that there is often a simpler way to do something other than trying to build from scratch, and that existing tools can often be re-invented or re-imagined for other sources. Jack’s story is a powerful reminder of that.

But there is a long way to go. There is lots of ingenuity to apply within the walls of vendors, law firms, and others in the profession, with limited (or no) need for invention. There is much self-examination to be done, creativity to exercise, and breakthroughs to be made. Where is the fast-forward button that will allow lawyers and those who support them to achieve jaw-dropping levels of efficiency?

Jack Chen found his. And if any organization in our industry can approach his degree of success, it will be doing just fine.

Earlier: Meet The Triathlon-Running, Kilimanjaro-Climbing Patent Lawyer Who Happens To Be Blind

David Perla is the President of Bloomberg Law and Bloomberg BNA’s Legal division. Perla plays a key leadership role in the continued growth of the company’s legal business, which includes legal, legislative, and regulatory news analysis and the flagship Bloomberg Law technology platform. You can reach David at dPerla@bna.com and follow him on Twitter at @davidperla.

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