In tumultuous times, the cry goes up for change. Pressed on all sides, general counsel welcome the idea of new practices and different forms of service delivery — innovations that hold promise of improvements in productivity, quality or costs. But innovation comes dear. More broadly, even though law department leaders exalt new methods, their beliefs about innovation are honeycombed with myths. As an antidote to mythical thinking, I offer 10 statements that are true for legal departments — and law firms, by the way — that crave or care about innovation. The first five truths speak more to individual law departments; the final five speak more to innovation in the broader industry.
• New ideas are plentiful, implemented good ones far less. Ask anyone in a law department about what could be improved, and they will list at length. It’s a myth that good ideas come only from the top or are rare. And, if internal sources of new ideas are not enough, these days — unlike the times when a general counsel had relatively few ways to learn about new methods — multiple channels pour out novelty. Conferences abound, groups for general counsel proliferate, trade journals headline trends, consultants pollinate among departments, books fill shelves and online networks extol and transmit new practices instantaneously.
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