I’ve been seeing several references to Adam Grant’s book, “Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World” (affiliate link) in my LinkedIn feed (I’m almost embarrassed to admit that I peruse my LinkedIn feed). I enjoy Grant and his contributions in the New York Times and was curious about his take on “Originals.” More specifically, I was curious if the legal industry could benefit from Originals, or are we the exception to Grant’s thesis?
Originals, according to Grant, are the people who question why the default is the way it is. He uses the example of the internet browser as an indicator of an Original. If you use your computer’s default programs without question, you may not be an Original. However, if you take the initiative to install a browser instead of using the default, you demonstrate the curiosity and initiative of an Original. Yes, there are many mitigating factors surrounding installing new programs on work computers, but the crux of the example is that Originals don’t accept the default as the best option.
Grant says, “Originals drive creativity and change in the world.” They “are nonconformists, people who not only have new ideas but take action to champion them. They are people who stand out and speak up.” Oddly, this sounds like an idealistic 1L’s dream of the practice of law. Go out, champion justice and change, be a person who takes action and who isn’t afraid to speak up on behalf of those changes. For those of us who have been practicing a while, and especially those of us who work in law firms we don’t own, we are more likely to be conformists than Originals.
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And, of course, there’s good reason why our employers don’t want us to be nonconformists. Our job, in effect, is to ensure conformance. Sure, there are a few of us who get to fight the good fight, speak up on behalf of justice, humanity, and the American way, but most of us aren’t that lucky. So we fill out forms for court filings, we make sure we follow our deposition outlines, we rely on samples and boilerplates that haven’t put others at risk for malpractice. We are incentivized to use the the default instead of asking if there is a better way. As we get older and wiser in our practice, those lawyers who may have been Originals in their 1L year find the effort of questioning and seeking a better way doesn’t pay off and their Originality is snuffed out.
As a profession, we should be encouraging new and creative thought. Our industry is currently in flux. The business and practice of law are changing. Clients are demanding more from their lawyers and simply billing (and working) more hours isn’t the solution. Now is when we would benefit from Originals in our organizations, if only we hadn’t pushed them all out or strangled their Originality early in their career.
How can lawyers, with an obligation to zealously advocate for our clients, take a risk on Originals? Grant doesn’t delve into the specific issue of whether the legal industry is capable of supporting Originals, let alone creating a working environment where Originals thrive, but he does provide suggestions for nurturing Originals and Original thinking, such as explaining the reasons for rules and allowing individuals the freedom to operate within those guidelines, giving yourself time to procrastinate, and brainstorming by yourself and evaluating ideas generated in a group. In other words: no micromanaging.
Lawyers may not be what a person thinks of when one thinks of an Original, but many of us have a spark of creativity that still sputters. Some of you want to speak up for change but have bitten your tongue for years; some of you see that the way things are done now is wasteful in time and money and know there is a better way. Originals are among us. We have to start seeing and appreciating them.
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Celeste Harrison Forst has practiced in small and mid-sized firms and is now in-house at a large manufacturing and technology company where she receives daily hugs from her colleagues. You can reach Celeste directly at [email protected].