P2P

34 P E E R T O P E E R : I L T A ' S Q U A R T E R L Y M A G A Z I N E | W I N T E R 2 0 2 2 The Challenge and Conclusion The key challenge with common sense is that it is not common! While many agree that it is unwise to invest in any major digital transformation without first reviewing the processes that are likely to lead to success, we continue to see this happen. So-called "tech regret" happens when a solution has been oversold or where the realized benefits do not align with the business case. Why is this? As we have discussed, change is hard, especially with lawyers but it is not impossible. The effort, time, resource, and investment necessary to support a successful change is necessary today, while the benefits, adoption and improved ways of working associated with a transformation are in the future. This touches on a key behavioral observation: we all have a present bias where we seek the opposite: benefits today, with all the required costs being pushed into the future. While common sense is intuitively familiar and cliched, it is not common practice in many organizations. The "say-do" gap between what we know to be the right course of action, and us doing what we know to be necessary, are two different things. Getting Started To get started, look to identify how you would plot your teams' current legal operations activities within this framework. This can be done within the leadership team or as part of an offsite activity. It invariably shows that there are activities that are yielding little benefit but have continued due to inertia. By taking the time to identify activities that if increased will add business benefit, we are also able to identify activities that we should be doing less of or not all. By doing this, Legal Operations teams early in their maturity cycle can create strategic focus, increase user adoption, efficiently use existing resources, and optimally manage costs for the organization for the next business cycle. ILTA F E A T U R E S Meredith L. Williams-Range is Shearman & Sterling's Chief Knowledge & Value Officer. She oversees & coordinates global strategy in master data management, conf licts, governance, new business intake, records, legal project management, knowledge management, research services and more. She also oversees many of the Firm's resources that allow Shearman to partner with clients and deliver cutting-edge legal tech. She is widely recognized as a leading authority in innovation, legal tech, and the practice of law changes, and is a frequent presenter and author. Anthony Widdop leads Shearman & Sterling's Legal Operations by Shearman program, which is a client offering designed to meet the people, process and technology needs of in-house law departments. He also leads our internal legal project management, business analytics and process improvement teams, which are focused on embedding change through project management, pricing, analytics, technology and process improvement solutions — to benefit our people and clients.

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