P2P

12 explicit governance criteria. When governance shows up in conversations about whether someone's ready for partnership or what their compensation should be, it signals that governance matters for professional success. The key is integration, not separation. Make governance part of practice, not apart from practice. TELL STORIES, NOT STATISTICS Humans think in narrative ways more naturally than in abstract ways. Governance initiatives typically communicate through statistics: "Our retention compliance rate is 73%." These abstractions don't stick. But stories stick. The partner who lost a motion to compel because of retention failures, and how humiliating that was in front of the client. The firm that won a significant piece of business because its security practices impressed the GC. The associate who saved hours of weekend work by finding a perfect precedent in the properly managed knowledge system. Stories make governance concrete instead of abstract. They create shared narratives about what good practice looks like. ADDRESS STRUCTURAL INCENTIVES Cultural change ultimately requires aligning incentives with desired behaviors. If your compensation system, evaluation criteria, and recognition mechanisms all reward behaviors that conflict with governance, culture won't change. Consider making certain governance activities billable. Matter setup. Retention decisions. Security protocol compliance. If partnership evaluation ignores governance entirely, add it as an explicit criterion if stars get away with violations; that has to stop. I know this is not easy because it requires confronting valuable people. But selective enforcement is cultural poison. If governance doesn't matter for stars, it doesn't really matter at all. DESIGN FOR HUMANS, NOT IDEAL ACTORS Many governance policies assume ideal actors. Perfectly rational people who carefully read policies, understand their importance, and diligently comply. Real humans are distracted, forgetful, overwhelmed, and influenced by social context. They're doing their best, but they're juggling seventeen things, and governance is just one of them. Governance systems designed for real humans build in defaults, prompts, and friction reduction. The document management system that auto-classifies based on matter type. The email encryption happens automatically. When governance feels burdensome, people resent it. When systems work with human reality rather than against it, people experience governance as helpful. MOVING FORWARD Cultural transformation doesn't happen through one dramatic intervention. It requires sustained effort across multiple dimensions. Start by honestly assessing your current culture through anonymous surveys and by observing actual practices rather than stated policies. Identify your people with genuine influence, or culture carriers. Choose a few high- leverage changes that create visible shifts in what's professionally normal. Build governance into existing rhythms rather than creating separate initiatives. Supplement compliance metrics with cultural indicators: Do people feel governance helps or hinders? Do violations decrease from genuine behavior change? Celebrate and reinforce new norms. When people demonstrate good governance, acknowledge it specifically and tie it to outcomes.

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