LexThink Resolutions

LexThink was great.  I am still distilling what I learned and thought about.  Because I was the moderator/facilitator for the day, I had a different view of the event than most people.  I didn't engage as fully in the sessions or discussions, because I was doing things like gauging the energy in the room and thinking about how to get people to prioritize and articulate their best ideas, and how to direct people back together, etc.   So in some ways, I missed a lot of the most juicy substantive discussions.   

My biggest personal lesson was that I discovered I am a decent facilitator.  I'd never done anything like that before, and was a little skeptical of the free-form, agenda-less model we were using.  There are a few things I would do differently and I know I can get better, but I think I did a good job.  A bunch of people asked me how long I'd been leading and facilitating groups.  Others congratulated Matt and Dennis on selecting the venue, assuming that I was a professional facilitator who came with the event space.  So that was neat.   I enjoyed doing it.  I noticed a lot of things about how people work, and what cues (besides words) get people to change what they're doing and do something else.  It's really just more along the lines of the party theme.  I'll write some of them down later. 

I have a bunch of other impressions and thoughts that I'm still thinking over.  One is about collaboration and trust.  One is about instincts and the people we connect with.  One is about self-promotion and discernment.  They're all snaked around together in a knot for me right now so I can't really articulate the separate threads. 

One of the things I did as facilitator was ask everyone to write down on an index card the three things they personally resolved to do immediately on leaving LexThink.  I asked them to make three copies of this list -- one for themselves, one for a buddy who would follow up and find out how successful they'd been at doing the action items, and one list, without their name on it, for us at LexThink to keep.  I just typed up the list of resolutions.  It'll give you a bit of a glimpse of what came out of the day.

• Write an article on perfecting the law firm
• Set aside time for more software use training
• spend more time on personal health issues
• reflect on what I heard
• figure out what stuff is truly novel
• use ActiveWords more often
• refocus my thought processes on bringing valuable information to my blog readers
• become a better listener
• challenge myself to read more -- be informed on topics outside of my core focus
• define my passion in written form
• distill accountability/transparency scheme into practice
• ensure wiki is developed
• launch divorce law blog
• update and improve engagement letter
• complete vision statement
• follow up with participants
• read The One Page Proposal
• read participant blogs for ideas
• start a blog
• communicate good ideas from LexThink to my firm
• think about such ideas on long drive home
• teach lawyers difference between value, price, and cost
• teach difference between service workers and knowledge workers
• way partnership model has to be re-thought and changed
• think bigger on customer service when dealing with clients
• find my passion and hence niche to build my services for
• find the balance....
• say no
• find and focus passion
• delegate and set up system to facilitate delegation
• take responsibility for making my life what I want
• implement the best practices I already know about
• manage my time better
• read blogs that I normally wouldn't and leave comments/email authors
• create a Catalyst Ranch-like space in an empty office at our new building for me and for clients to use without me.
• spend ten times more time communicating with other bloggers I already know
• ask 1 client per week how I can better serve them
• expose a client to a new technology in the context of their business
• compose a professional mission statement
• build LexThink into a sustainable enterprise that changes professional practice for the better of clients everywhere
• ask my clients to teach me about their business.
• routinely send thank-yous to inside firm members ("atta boy/girl" etc) as well as to clients
• institute client satisfaction surveys
• talk to [_______] about starting a business together
• clearly articulate my passions and what motivates me
• send out my business and consulting announcement to contacts
• implement coaching into the mix of my life
• read A Stranger To Ourselves
• ask [________], [________], [________], and [_________] to stay in touch and to help me
• ask for specific feedback and impressions
• price my services on the basis of value and not cost
• look past the obstacle to the goal I've created beyond the obstacle.  Focus energy on the goal, not the obstacle.
• talk to at least 5 customers about what they value and about when and why they hire folks like us.
• create new rate card and value pricing plan for all our offerings
• be way more selective with work engagements (and turn some down?)
• read Ron Baker's writings on value billing
• write up thoughts on the future of LexThink as an entity
• do a personal distillation of conference notes
• increase 2-way communications with upper management about strategic issues
• work more with practice groups and outside counsel to better understand their needs, frustrations, capabilities, directions, etc.
• engage more bloggers and LexThink! participants as my go-to people and return the favor
• offer 60 minute webinar on creating career/life mission statements
• develop 90 minute webinar on creating thriving attorney-client relationships
• offer group / solo coaching program
• identify & pursue 10 ideal clients in 3 industries we serve (refining niche market)
• build, refine & grow community based blog for clients and our business community
• employ technology for client forms, automated contact, client surveys, billing, etc.
• revise my understanding of law firm billing
• write on value billing and law firm governance
• write a business plan using the knowledge gained at LexThink
• create 60 tips in 60 minutes on how to build a successful professional services firm
• do a legal-tech tips blog
• exercise
• follow up with the people I've met at LexThink to gain insight into the profession that I don't currently have
• do some critical thinking about the nature of lawyers as transactional vs. relational
• try to write a document on value billing
• learn how to set up a wiki
• add any LexThink attendees blogs that aren't already on my blogroll to my blogroll
• follow up with further specific conversations with specific attendees
• structure pricing options
• create attorney hot-line service
• launch website program with consulting option

Comments

[Greatest American Lawyer]

Great job Sherri! You were a natural facilitator and one of the many highlights of the day.

Let's turn these ideas into action. Let's turn action into transformation of a legal system closer to its ideals.