January 17, 2007
Several interesting things popping today that I’d like to share.
1. Check out the post on Social Intelligence on Bruce MacEwan’s blog, Adam Smith, Esq.  It’s a brief explanation of what social intellligence is, why it matters, and why even (or perhaps especially) lawyers who are not generally inclined to explore such issues ought to pay attention.
2. Bob Sutton has an interesting couple of posts that discuss research showing that people who are paid on an hourly basis spend more time working and less time on (to use lawyer language) “nonbillable” activities. Provocatively titled The Billable Hour Turns People Into Workaholics, the post and the comments that follow will get you thinking. I’m not crazy about the workaholic title, but little brings the money value of time into focus like waiting in line for 15 minutes and realizing the cost. A critical point for us to notice, however, is that lawyers are not nearly the only professionals to experience this phenomenon.
3. Chuck Newton extols the virtues of Third Wave legal practice in his post on BestBuy’s ROWE (Results Only Work Environment) as discussed in the December 11 issue of Business Week. Although I find the concept appealing, the juxtaposition of this post next to Bob Sutton’s “Workaholic” post prompts me to wonder whether a ROWE system could work in a law firm only in the absence of hourly billing practices. Comments?
4. Interested in the many recent articles discussing the generational differences showing up in law firms these days? The JD Bliss blog offers Phyllis Weiss Haserot’s Top 5 Inter-Generational Relations Blunders That Law Firms Make.
5. Finally, in the “Just For Fun” category, visit this short Flash video promoting Slow Down Week (Jan. 14-20). It’ll make you laugh… And it just might make you think, too.Â
Welcome back!
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