Law Firm 4.0 Blog

Good ideas, true creativity and brilliant design - how are they received?

For every dazzling creative idea we have, for every unique and differentiating strategy, we need an audience.  People who have open hearts and minds who will see that our approach is precisely what they need just when they need it.  

It actually happens sometimes, and it's exhilarating to be on the giving end of this equation.

Occasionally it doesn't, however, and this post by Mike Lacher on Timothy McSweeney's Internet Tendency blog, pictures in excruciating detail how it sometimes goes.  

Client Feedback On the Creation of the Earth

By Mike Lacher

Hi God,

Thanks so much for the latest round of work. Really coming together. Few points of feedback:

1 – Really liking the whole light thing but not totally sure about the naming system. “Day” and “night” are OK but we feel like there’s more we can do here. Thoughts? Definitely need to nail this down ASAP.

2 – Re: the “sky”… not really feeling the color here. Would like something that pops more. Please send additional options.

3 – Appreciate the work on the sea and ground, but right now there’s way too much sea. The ground is getting lost in it. In general, sea does not resonate well with our users. Was talking with the team and the idea of having no sea at all came up. Thoughts?

4 – Noticed you’ve covered the ground in vegetation bearing seeds according to their kind and trees bearing fruit according to their kind. Is this intentional? Please advise.

5 – Right now we’re only seeing two great lights in the sky… a greater one for day and a lesser one for night? Thinking that maybe we weren’t clear in the original briefing. Definitely need more than just two great lights. Need to make this a memorable, high-value experience for our users. Please revisit slides thirteen and fourteen in the deck. Shout with questions.

6 – Seas teeming with life is fine, but again, we need to reduce the sea. This is a showstopper for us.

7 – Are the winged birds final, or placeholder? Some kind of weird stuff going on with those. Just want to get some clarification before giving more feedback.

8 – Can we get more livestock and wild animals that move along the ground according to their kinds? Again, the passion points for our target users (slide eighteen) are ground and animals that move along the ground. Whatever we can do to increase the amount of ground will go a long way toward converting our users from passive consumers into brand evangelists.

9 – Re: “mankind.” Interesting take on the brief here. Big pain point is that mankind is coming across as largely made in your image. As you hopefully recall from the deck, our users are a diverse group (slide twenty-seven) and we definitely want to make them feel represented (slide twenty-eight). Afraid that if our users see fleshy bipedal mammals positioned as “ruling over” the ground and sea (if we’re having sea), they might feel alienated and again less willing to convert into brand evangelists. Let’s fast-track an alt version with mankind removed. Doable?

10 – Please cut all the “be fruitful and multiply” stuff. We’re a family brand and this doesn’t fit with our voice (slide thirty-four).

Realize it’s Saturday and you were planning to be OOO tomorrow to admire your creation and everything, but I’m hoping you can keep rolling on this through the weekend. Need to get this in front of my exec team by EOD Monday so hoping to sync up EOD Sunday. Will be around all weekend via email and chat if anything comes up. Looking to you and your team for a big win here.

Thanks!
Mike

I know  you'll want to read more articles by Mike Lacher.

 

 

 

 

Richard Hsu connects with lawyer (a/k/a) celebrities in a unique way (Hsu Untied)

Writing my first blog post in 2015, I wanted to choose a topic that would have broad appeal.  I've written about technology/IP/M&A lawyer Richard Hsu several times.  The first time was nearly three years ago when I first read his definition of strategy. I'm including it here, because every New Year should start out with the hope and opportunity associated with smart strategy.

...On the other hand, technology strategy is not technology.  It is strategy.  And strategy’s half-life is more like plutonium:  what worked a thousand years ago works today, and will work in a thousand years....  Invest in understanding strategy now, and you will understand it just as well — probably even better [in the future.]  

This is part of a larger discussion about technology strategy, but it applies to every administrative department, capital investment or area of law in the law firm.

 

 

 

 

 

Richard is my favorite lawyer blogger, which is saying a lot given the thousands of them who pen posts about late-breaking developments in the law.  His "Hsu Tube" is also known as the "One Page Blog" - and therein lies part of its appeal.  He has mastered concise, and the art of effective and differentiated communication through clever animated illustrations drawn by his daughter, Maya. He narrates legal topics, such as "Handling IP Assets in M&A Transactions," while Maya proves that the maxim, "a picture is worth a thousand words," is true.  Her illustration style is similar to what you'd see in "Diary of a Wimpy Kid."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What you will also see on Hsu Tube, is Richard's latest offering, "Hsu Untied," a series of podcast interviews he conducts with lawyers about their burning passions and hobbies outside the office.  If you have some time on your hands, listen to the 31 episodes - each podcast is 10-16+ minutes long.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Recent podcasts have included:

1. Drew Shoals*, the drummer for the Grammy Award winning band, Train.  Drew had previously played with the lead singer of Train, Pat Monahan, prior to going to law school.  Despite having a successful legal career at Shearman & Sterling, when he got the call to join the band, he couldn’t say no. 
   
   https://soundcloud.com/hsu-untied/dshoals

2. Wayne Brown, Deputy General Counsel and Chief Intellectual Property Officer at Quest Diagnostics, who is a tournament chess player.  Wayne has a chess rating of “Expert” (top 5-10% of all tournament players) and has played competitive chess his entire life – in fact, he cannot remember a time when he did not know how to move the chess pieces.  Wayne discusses his lifelong passion for chess, including his favorite chess openings and how he started beating his dad when he was just in the 7th grade! 
   
   https://soundcloud.com/hsu-untied/wbrown
   
   
3. Liz Stone, a former litigator and now legal recruiter with the Dubin Group, who is also a standup comedienne.  Liz actually started doing “stand-up” after a couple of friends noticed her performing a wedding speech and after doing many “open mics,” she now performs at clubs like the San Francisco Punchline and Cobbs Comedy Club.  Although she enjoys what she currently does, she admits there is nothing more exhilarating — or terrifying — than trying to make an audience laugh. 
   
   https://soundcloud.com/hsu-untied/lstone

Richard shows us that successful lawyers are often well-rounded and interesting - and that they have a lot to talk  about that doesn't relate specifically to the practice of law.  

Let's get more of them talking.

Happy New Year!  Thank you for reading my blog!