The quarterly publication of the International Legal Technology Association
Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/67910
smart moves initially explored a contract opportunity in an area in which I had strong technical knowledge but very little direct industry exposure. In doing so, I quickly learned about a whole domain that I could apply to my true strength — legal. Look for Your Next Opportunity for Growth TJ: The very best ways to grow are to always strive to do what you do really well, look for ways to continually improve and keep up with what's new and on the horizon. I read everything I can get my hands on, share stories with my conference planning peers and watch for educational opportunities in technology and my areas of focus. I hone my planning skills by participating in professional associations and committees, and volunteering as a speaker. This really adds to my skills arsenal and helps me identify what I should utilize in my daily role. Tom K.: The greatest opportunity for growth lies in what is feared. That's where innovation always happens. We fear the loss of privacy, the threat of security, the risk of transparency and global uncertainty. What are you most fearful of today? The future is about living in the cloud, a virtual, intensely collaborative, always-on lifestyle that will be driven by connections beyond comprehension — close to 100 billion connections by 2020. But we are fearful of this future. Tools and behaviors to help us overcome these fears and not only survive but thrive in this new normal are the greatest opportunities for the future. My personal bets are on the platforms that will enable that change and help us both leverage and cope with it. I'm not just talking about the Facebooks and Googles of the world, but companies such as elance.com, pinterest.com, itsy.com, kickstarter.com and many others that provide ways to create value, not just volume, from connections. My advice when it comes to identifying future growth opportunities is to go where the fear is — learn it, live it and love it, or find a nice cabin in the woods (without a satellite dish). Focus on 2020 Tom M.: To remain relevant in 2020, you need to be comfortable with virtual collaboration. It's here in various forms and my kids live in it, but the future is all about working in real-time with people/ teams across the globe. I also think everyone will need to have the ability to assess risk (i.e., how will doing (or not doing) _____ affect my company/firm/family?). Tom K.: I have little doubt that the skill we will all need to learn most is how to manufacture alone time. I'm sure this answer is surprising, especially given my response to the Next Opportunity for Growth. I bring up this contradiction because what we intuitively feel we need to get better at is being connected rather than being alone. As technology moves ever-faster, we want to keep up in order to be relevant and competitive. But here is the rub: People don't run well at full throttle, at least not for long. We are built to be sprinters. We need downtime in order to allow our brains to process complex thoughts. That's why James Watson saw the DNA double helix in his dreams; it's why you come up with nuggets of brilliance in the shower and on long drives in the car. Kids today are not learning how to be alone, and the rest of us are being dragged into that vortex of connectivity as well. Sure, much will come out of the wonderful connectivity we are creating, but we will soon have a generation scared to death of the very state of mind that has created some of humanity's greatest revelations. Being part of one great global mind will have its advantages, but I for one still want to detach every now and then into the splendor of solitude. Kate Cain is Director of Market Intelligence at Sidley Austin LLP. She has worked for large law firms in the Chicago market for nearly 14 years in a variety of roles, including trainer, training and support manager, project manager and business analyst. Kate currently serves as the Vice President of ILTA's Professional Services Peer Group, and she has been a frequent contributor to publications and a conference speaker. She can be reached at kcain@sidley.com. In her 27th year with Sidley Austin LLP, Joy is responsible for firmwide audiovisual, presentation, collaboration and videoconferencing technology. She serves on ILTA's Desktop and Application Services Peer Group Steering Committee and as the Strategic Relationship Liaison for Autonomy iManage. Joy was named the 2011 Communications Technologies Champion by ILTA and 2008 IT Champion of the Year by Law Technology News magazine, and she has been recognized for world-class leadership by Legal IT magazine in the U.K. She can be reached at jheath@sidley.com. 32 Peer to Peer TJ Johnson is the Program Manager of Conferences for the International Legal Technology Association (ILTA), where she manages the volunteer-driven educational program development for ILTA's annual educational conference. TJ also manages logistics for the annual conference and ILTA's other conferences, including resort planning, budgeting, marketing, technology, business continuity and onsite execution. Prior to joining ILTA in 2003, TJ was the IT director of a mid-sized law firm in Canada. She can be reached at tj@iltanet.org.