In this series on the attorney experience, we’re looking at the attorney journey through the stages of an assignment. In Lean Adviser, these stages are always Plan, Execute, Monitor and Improve. This template never changes and it’s why Lean Adviser is laid out this way, with separate modules, lessons and tools for these 4 key stages.

Since Planning comes first, lesson 4-18 looked at how planning is the foundation for everything which follows, including having a client-approved project plan, working efficiently and effectively to deliver it, and then getting re-hired. In lessons 4-19 and 4-20 we looked at how executing the plan and monitoring it imbues a reassuring sense of control in the attorney, and a feeling of trust in the client.

The pattern is clear; what’s good for the assignment is good for the attorney — and equally, what’s good for the attorney is good for the assignment. We described this as “working wellness” and it’s a virtuous circle: happy lawyer, good job, happy client, healthy lawyer, good job, repeat. If this is your attorney experience, you’ll recognize it instantly, and if it’s not, it could be.

Now let’s close this series by looking at the attorney journey through the final stage of Lean Adviser, which is “Improvement.” To a large extent, this improvement is a self-fulfilling prophecy. It happens in real time, all the time, simply from constantly seeking better processes and methods. A lawyer with a better toolset and a healthy mindset is already a better lawyer, and a more valuable asset to the client.

But there’s more to it than that. Lean Adviser takes improvement seriously, and so should you. You could give yourself a pat on the back, send out the bill and move on, but you’d miss some valuable opportunities. Within “Improvement” Lean Adviser has separate components on “Reconciliation,” “Listening” and “Learning.” Improvement can be achieved within assignments, attorneys and entire law firms. This isn’t a fringe benefit of Lean Adviser, it’s the entire point.

We can’t end without mentioning culture. Working wellness requires the right law firm culture. There are still firms who overwork young associates, drop work on their desk at 5 pm on Friday that’s due Monday morning, give no direction beyond “suck it up” or “if you don’t show up Saturday, don’t show up Monday.” Granted, many firms have already abandoned those old ways, but we still hear stories of firms not understanding why they have trouble keeping associates. “They want all this stuff,” one Partner recently told us. “And they leave while I’m still at my desk. In my day …” Well, there it is. The “back in my day” line is no longer valid. For some firms, maybe it’s the culture which needs to improve.