P2P

4 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 | S P R I N G 2 0 2 3 F R O M T H E C E O W elcome to our first Peer to Peer of 2023! How did that happen so fast? We know we need to move at the speed of technology, but even that seems too slow for everything we need and want to accomplish! In this quarter's Peer to Peer, we are focusing on innovation and the value of failure. Now that is HARD in the practice of law. Those of you in corporate law departments don't pay your outside counsel to fail. Those of you in law firms aren't paid to fail (and may not have experienced much professional failure). But the entire concept behind technology innovation is to fail fast and then iterate. Therefore, the fundamental paradox is how to develop a culture of innovation in organizations where, to quote Ed Harris in Apollo 13, "Failure is not an option." Here is where change management comes in. Those of you who attended ILTACON 2022 know that our Monday change management session was standing room only with a line out the door. Why? Because change is the one thing that remains constant (did Sheldon say that in the final episode of Big Bang Theory?). The hard part of innovation isn't the ideation. We are brilliant, creative people in our organizations across functions. And we certainly have plenty of interesting and valuable problems to solve. Put our folks in a room with one of two of those hard problems, and I guarantee you will have solutions. The hard part isn't even to figure out how to make those solutions a reality. Managing our internal resources, we can develop applications and processes that streamline work and improve outcomes. Actually, once upon a time, piloting new applications and solutions was hard, but that seems easier now than in the past. The regular upgrade cycle for cell phones/ tablets, as well as heavily-used mobile apps for banking and other personally critical functions has made us accustomed to new features appearing out of nowhere. What, then, are the obstacles to effective change management? Let's explore that. First …. What problem(s) do we set on the table in the room full of brilliant people? The opportunity cost of a critical problem not addressed is high, and organizational politics can be challenging. Second ….. Who have we lined up as change champions? It is hard to succeed without them. Third …. What is the "fail fast" cadence? Pre-pilot, pilot, controlled deployment, etc. Use your favorite organizational terminology, but it is important that fail fast not mean fail chaotically. Joy Heath Rush joy@iltanet.org T H E R E ' S M O R E O N L I N E ! For more great insight on ILTA's CEO, listen along online as she sits down for another CEO podcast! listen here »

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