This witty and telling observation by Arthur Schopenhauer, a German philosopher who lived between 1788 and 1860, may be very familiar to those lawyers who have tried to innovate or change things in their firms.
Schopenhauer had significant influence on major thinkers to follow such as Nietzsche, Freud and Darwin. He was often cited into the 20th century by cultural leaders as well as in popular culture, where his notion of the Will to Live still surfaces regularly in daily speech. He's often cited for his darker view of human life as driven by suffering, but also for his sharp-eyed observations of our follies as human beings.
An example of that folly is captured in this quote, which amusingly describes how we all resist moving out of our comfort zones, especially in the face of a challenging idea. Notice how the progression starts with dismissal of the idea as a joke, but when the idea starts to gain traction and becomes threatening to the mental or corporate status quo, it is resisted even more vigorously. Real change or disruption has become a serious possibility. At least, to Schopenhauer, the better ideas do triumph, with the nay-sayers jumping on board wholeheartedly.
To some extent, the legal profession has already proceeded through these stages in it's attitude toward marketing and business development. About twenty years ago, the idea of hiring marketing directors, business developers, and formalizing processes within the firm was perhaps in the first stage of ridicule. And those of us who are outside consultants have seen plenty of resistance within firms, and even within the standard setters of the profession, along the way. Now, the profession at large accepts the value of a more professional marketing approach to managing their efforts to get and keep business.
Still, there are plenty of ridiculers and resisters to new ideaswithin individual firms. In the last issue, we cited an ALM study about the growing hiring and deployment of business developers, for example. Such a use of a sales force remains still relatively slight, particularly among the firms outside the top tier, firms which may be finding themselves in the midst of Schopenhauer's stages about this.
And perhaps your firm is in the midst of its own stages of ridicule or resistance to a more marketing oriented firm. We see so many firms that give token acknowledgment to the new realities (a view backed up by the ALM study), but end up with too little commitment to business development training for lawyers, or client service teams, or (pick an initiative that your firm has failed to commit to)...
What to do? Our five award winners for 2008 all have shown great leadership, not only in building their practices, but in transforming their firms. Many have demonstrated some of the new truths so that their firms can follow their lead, and all have led by example. So, not only are they worthy of praise and recognition, but they show what can be done, what you can do in your firm. It may require dealing with ridicule or resistance, but the result is a both a career benefit for you and a valuable contribution to your firm. Let these award-winning role models show you how to build a stronger practice for yourself...and give you the incentive to move your firm more fully into a market-oriented culture.
© 2008 PBDI/SAGE PDI. This article comes from the September 2008 Issue of ORIGINATE!, the online monthly newsletter (with ongoing support resources) dedicated to helping individual lawyers develop business successfully in order to build their careers. The contents of this anniversary issue are complimentary; otherwise articles are usually available to subscribers only. Find out more about subscribing at www.pbdi.org/originate.
