Originally published in The Legal Intelligencer
Smart Strategy
The legal sector’s “war for talent” is reaching new heights, leaving many firms grasping at straws for what they can do—besides throw more money at the problem—to ease the pain. “Band-aid solutions”—salary increases, signing bonuses, extra vacation days, gym memberships—are temporary fixes. They address the symptoms yet ignore what lies beneath. Among the root causes is culture, a topic around which Vivia Chen of Bloomberg Law recently interviewed several law firm leaders. Her concluding phrase captures the prevailing norm in law firm culture today perfectly: “Suck it up.”
It is this survivalist mentality, a results-first perspective, which defines culture at many of the world’s largest law firms. And it is in redefining this attitude—in transitioning from a performance culture—one characterized by goal achievement and results—to a learning culture —characterized by continuous improvement and development—that a law firm can find powerful, lasting advantage.
What’s Wrong With a Performance Culture?
“If you can’t do it right, don’t do it all.”
“Failure is not an option.”
“Win at all costs.”
Law firms are notorious for espousing an outcome orientation. For decades, mantras such as these have emboldened many of the world’s most successful lawyers. Whether defending clients in high-stakes matters or maneuvering for the most advantageous deal terms, lawyers have wielded tenacity and perseverance to achieve lofty goals. Their orientation, they would say, yields better results for clients. The excellence they deliver—and demand from those around them—is praiseworthy. They only hire the best, the most elite, and then demand from them equally superior results. It sets them apart. It makes them and their firms better performers; no, the best performers, they say. Except it doesn’t.
Organizations built around a predominantly results-oriented mindset, or so-called “performance cultures,” do not, ironically, optimize performance. The emphasis in these cultures is to “look good,” sometimes with dire consequences. Performance culture is the prevailing culture in law firms, especially among Associates. Internal competition is common, perfection is expected and tolerance for error—in work product or personal work ethic—is limited, at best. An “eyes on the prize” mentality breeds environments that overlook festering toxicity, thwart innovative experimentation, propagate myths, diminish safety and open the door for major mishaps (by sweeping small blunders under the rug for fear of retribution). While the competitive nature of individuals comprising these organizations can drive stellar outcomes in the short-term, over time, teams collapse under their own weight. Many of today’s law firms are feeling this pain. Exacerbated by the events of the past two years, including the pandemic, the cracks in law firm culture are becoming ever more evident.
A Better Model: A Learning Culture
A better model—and one essential in competing for talent in the current environment—is to cultivate a culture of “doing good.” Doing good thrives when growth supersedes the outcome, when continuous improvement overrides perfection. A growth or learning culture emphasizes self-actualization and interpersonal connection, the combination of which has a demonstrated positive effect not just on individuals but also on the organization. Over the long-term, studies show cultures emphasizing “doing good” experience higher client satisfaction, greater talent retention and stronger financial performance than organizations with other culture types.
Hallmarks of a growth culture are the emphasis not just on what people know but also how they feel and, in turn, how they behave. Disagreement is encouraged, assumptions are often revisited, and doing things the way they’ve always been done is discarded in favor of exploring new and potentially better ways of approaching work process. Perhaps most importantly, value is defined not by outcome but by contribution and engagement.
The below table provides a snapshot of the core differences between a performance culture and a growth culture.
When compared to the factors driving lawyers to stay—or leave—their jobs, the evidence in favor of a growth culture is compelling. Psychological safety is imperative to the attraction and retention of diverse and female candidates, a burning goal for law firms. The ability to change and innovate is predicated on a tolerance of some degree of failure. Again, this is a characteristic uncommon in performance cultures and, by extension, the vast majority of law firms today. Relatedly, vulnerability—the willingness to put oneself out there, warts and all—is highly valued by younger generations who look for workplaces where they feel safe expressing themselves in real, authentic ways.
It is important to note here, as well, that it is not just talent within the organization who benefit from a learning culture. Improvements in work process, collaboration and creative problem-solving directly respond to client demands, and enhanced diversity and psychological safety bolster stronger interpersonal connections between individuals across organizations and the community.
How Does an Organization Change Culture?
Asking how an organization changes its culture may feel akin to asking how a zebra changes its stripes. Fortunately, cultural change is within reach for those willing to take the first step.
Start at the top.
Leaders are instrumental to propelling cultural shifts. The most effective way to infuse new behaviors into the organization is to model them. For example, to model vulnerability, leaders must be willing to own up to their own shortcomings or mistakes.
Embed new behaviors.
The second most impactful approach to cultural change is to infuse new ways of engaging with one another into the firm’s most important, high-priority and high-profile initiatives. For example, to increase collaborative problem-solving, a leader may empower committees to engage in small-scale experiments to address specific issues at the firm such as billing inefficiencies, poor feedback loops or failed technology rollouts.
Personal transformation and awareness.
Unfortunately, not all leaders know how to take these first two steps. Understandably. Only about a third of law firms offer leader development training to partners. Investing in the resources and support to prepare leaders not just in the mechanics of their role (management: financials, hiring, operations, etc.) but also the essential leadership skills (leadership: feedback, motivation, inspiration, engagement) will feed cultural evolution.
Cultural transformation is not for the faint of heart, nor is it an endeavor that will yield immediate results. It is, however, perhaps one of the most impactful and rewarding undertakings a leader can call her own. Imagine the advantages not just of shepherding a firm through a pandemic and an aggressive war for talent, but also of making the firm and, by extension, the world a better place. Too grandiose? Not according to Ruth Bader Ginsburg who noted, “real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time.” Now, go change the world.