Frogslayer reposted this
Distinguished Fellow at Harvard Law School and CEO, Gardner & Co. research/advisory firm; founding member, Chief
Oil and water. White shoes after Labor Day. Innovation and compliance? Some argue these last two just don’t jibe – even though they’re co-occurring goals for most companies. My response: it depends on whether smarter collaboration is in the mix. Tim Scott at Frogslayer recently asked me how large firms are balancing the need for innovation with security and compliance requirements. In his tech role, I’m sure Tim has encountered leaders who fear new ways of doing things. They think: “Innovation is supposed to open doors, but all I see is risks sneaking through." My colleagues and I have seen this hesitancy and resistance in our decades of empirical work at Harvard University and with hundreds of global clients: people forego novel tech and processes because they fear what could go wrong. And then they miss out on all the potential business and talent benefits. But if these individuals practiced smarter collaboration, they could balance the innovation-risk tradeoffs. Our research clearly demonstrates that smarter collaboration enhances both innovation speed and adoption – and mitigates enterprise risk at the same time. 1. That’s because smarter collaboration promotes better decision-making structures and processes. It involves harnessing the right mix of experts to tackle a problem or opportunity, including people beyond the “usual suspects.” Done right, law firms draw on their technology and security specialists while also tapping lawyers (both early adopters and resistors) and external experts. 2. Smarter collaboration also fosters the right culture. It means that leaders and partners work hard to create psychological safety and “the obligation to dissent” (borrowing a phrase from my prior firm, McKinsey). This is where people speak up because they know they’re valued. In one firm, a group of chief- and director-level business professionals recently told me, “We feel so disrespected. Collectively we’ve got hundreds of years of experience, but the partners never consider our ideas.” What a waste! For more on this topic, check out my insights in Frogslayer’s new Legal Tech Trends 2025 report (the link is in the first comment). Along with experts Cheryl Wilson Griffin, Colin Levy, and Matt Pollins, we outline the trends, challenges, and solutions shaping the next chapter of legal tech.