Many in our industry will agree that the pandemic is setting this planning season apart from those of previous years. As we look ahead to 2021, many of the considerations that organizations took into account for 2020 – including remote work trends, how to connect with clients and consultants, and making the right tools and solutions available to employees – are carrying over into next year as we continue to navigate these unprecedented times. As our industry continues to experience seismic shifts in the practice of law, the need for innovation – applying people, processes, and technology to do something better, faster, or more efficiently – has never been more important.
There are a lot of common misconceptions tied to innovation: that it’s big, loud, usually expensive, and enacting it is reserved for a select group of especially smart individuals. In truth, innovation typically comes about as the result of a long, labor-intensive process – usually involving more than one person – to find a better way of doing something. It takes time, resources, and a lot of patience for those who are committed to adding value, creating efficiencies and improving processes.
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Here are three guidelines for the innovation process for us all to keep in mind as we enter the new year.
Innovation timelines aren’t always predictable.
Today, if we were to plan a trip from St. Louis to Portland, Oregon, we’d have multiple options and routes to get there by air or on the ground. We could measure progress against our goal in distance or time.
It is not uncommon for leadership to expect a roadmap before engaging in a project – but innovation is often uncertain, and the expectation of certainty where progress can be measured like mile markers on a highway is problematic. Innovation almost by definition requires discovery and trial and error. That said, it can be helpful to map out segments of a project ahead of time (perhaps by weeks or months at a time) to help track progress.
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Innovation may require different planning techniques.
If we know that we can’t have certainty before starting a project, how then should leadership manage it?
When it comes to applying technology in a law firm, leadership should allow some budget for “discovery work” to understand the parameters of a project and what is possible. A list of unknowns can be developed and assessed for risk. Alternatives can be “scouted” for possible solutions. Once those steps have been taken into account, say through a proof of concept, it is then possible to use more traditional project management techniques to estimate project costs and timelines.
Innovation is a process, not an event.
Innovation projects typically include risk factors – after all, if the outcome were certain, it wouldn’t really be innovation.
How many times have we heard statements like, “We tried that once, but it didn’t work”? The process of innovation is about learning from prior attempts and trying again. Nobody wants to embark on a big project and fail. A key to managing the process is to create small projects with defined scope, “fail fast,” and learn from the failure in order to create the next series of small projects to move the process forward. By structuring innovation into a series of smaller projects, with some experimentation and an allowance for failure, a firm can be successful in the story of a broader journey and adventure.
Legal professionals are under more pressure than ever to serve increasing demands. We have the opportunity to find better ways to innovate if we recognize that the path to do so isn’t always linear and predicable. And by understanding that innovation is a process that embodies prior failed attempts that can inform new successes, organizations can better prepare to embrace the new expectations of serving their clients as they look to the future.
Ken Crutchfield is Vice President and General Manager of Legal Markets at Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S., a leading provider of information, business intelligence, regulatory and legal workflow solutions. Ken has more than three decades of experience as a leader in information and software solutions across industries. He can be reached at [email protected].