by Bruce | August 27, 2018 | Articles, Cultural Considerations, Innovative Managing Partners, Leadership
Psychologists call us humans, among other things, “meaning-making machines.” We’re always looking for the reason why, the cause for the effect, the coherent narrative that pulls it all together and ties it up neatly. So far so good, but of course...
by Bruce | July 28, 2018 | Articles, Cultural Considerations, Leadership, Strategy, Technology strategy
Michael Lewis’ 2004 bestseller, Moneyball, subsequently made into a movie in 2011, has entered the vernacular. We have Moneyball for government, Moneyball for writing (and awarding) grant proposals, and, yes, Moneyball for lawyers. And its basic premise is hard to...
by Bruce | July 16, 2018 | Articles, Compensation, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Leadership, Recruiting, Strategy, Technology strategy
“Failure to attract and retain top talent” was the number-one issue in the Conference Board’s 2016 survey of global CEOs—before economic growth and competitive intensity. In more complex jobs, this will continue to be true as baby boomers (and their long experience)...
by Bruce | June 28, 2018 | About the Site, Articles, Cultural Considerations, Leadership
Something of a detour from our regularly scheduled programming, but we are not living in “ordinary times.” In the immediate wake of announcements from President Trump that he was ordering the end of the policy of separating children from their parents at the border,...
by Bruce | June 22, 2018 | Articles, Cultural Considerations, Leadership, Partnership Structures
Yes, it happens. We’ve seen several situations where the firm’s Managing Partner or Chair can’t bring themselves to make decisions–some arguably critical to the firm’s prosperity and vibrancy in the long run–because they fear some partners will object....
by Bruce | June 2, 2018 | Articles, Compensation, Cultural Considerations, Finance, Globalization, Leadership, Partnership Structures, Recruiting, Strategy
Copious has been the coverage around Freshfields’ revised lockstep–for example, The Lawyer’s “Be careful what you wish for: First round of Freshfields partners hit by lockstep reform.” It turns out that no matter how resounding the endorsement of the partners...