Canadian Lawyer

w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m J U N E 2 0 1 5 19 working alone. And it is in the synthesis of these disparate ideas that innovations can be found. Breaking down physical and temporal barriers to collaboration allows more people to get in on the act, and diver- sity of opinion and thought is more likely to lead to innovation. Working with diverse teams — from different backgrounds, specialties, and generations — often presents challenges. If we all come to the table with our own cog- nitive biases and individual contexts, get- ting everyone onto the same page can take time. However, by anchoring these expert discussions with visuals and on a shared display it is possible to create a shared understanding for building collective intel- ligence and to see disruptive innovations. Enable visual communications Our social world is becoming ever-more visual with more than "five million images uploaded to Instagram every day and 380 billion photos taken every day. . ." accord- ing to Sara Chapman's The Huffington Post UK article, "The Rise of Visual Culture." People want to quickly share and consume information, so if a picture is worth a thou- sand words . . . . Turning the complexity of legal services into a bunch of boxes and arrows is not so simple however. Process maps and other shared visualizations remain unfamiliar in our law firms where the written word still rules. But these boxes and arrows hold real power in externalizing and transferring knowledge between lawyer and client, and are key to creating transparency and pre- dictability throughout that process. Engage smart creatives Working together to achieve a common goal or purpose is not just about using new and clever technology. It is also about being mindful of the human element of col- laboration — this will achieve the tipping point. Collaboration after all, is not the default approach for lawyers who work in extremely intense bursts of concentration and isolation, and then come together to share. But in our highly networked world where, as David Weinberg said in Too Big to Know, the "smartest person in the room is the room itself," working more collab- oratively in teams is taking hold. Some of the students I've met in the last cou- ple of months are already working more collaboratively than I ever did at law school. In the book, How Google Works, Eric Schmidt and Jonathan Rosenberg describe "smart creatives" (the digital-age descen- dants of Drucker's "knowledge workers"), as curious, creative, and who prefer col- laboration over competition. "In an era when everything is speeding up, the best way for businesses to succeed is to attract smart creatives and give them an environ- ment where they can thrive at scale." This is where I believe the tipping point for collaboration is happening: more and more smart creatives using the highly visual tools and systems on the legal tech market to create a higher degree of shared under- standing between lawyer and client. I for one am eager to see what more might be possible when these two worlds collide. Kate Simpson is national director of knowledge management at Bennett Jones LLP. The opinions expressed in this article are her own. OSGOODE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT CONTINUING LEGAL EDUCATION To Register: www.osgoodepd.ca; Or Call: 416.597.9724 or 1.888.923.3394 Or E-mail: OsgoodePD@osgoode.yorku.ca A WORLD LEADER IN LAW SCHOOL LIFELONG LEARNING Priority Service Code: 15-99CL In about 30 hours, an OsgoodePDSRVWJUDGXDWHFHUWLoFDWHFDQ give you the up-to-date overview you need to better serve your clients and advance your career. Choose from more than XQLTXHFHUWLoFDWHSURJUDPVLQFOXGLQJ Practical. Intensive. Comprehensive. The Osgoode &HUWLoFDWHLQ Fundamentals of Aboriginal Law Starts September 23, 2015 The Osgoode&HUWLoFDWHLQ&RQVWUXFWLRQ/DZ Starts November 9, 2015 The Osgoode&HUWLoFDWHLQ1HJRWLDWLRQ Starts November 16, 2015 The Osgoode&HUWLoFDWHLQ0LQLQJ/DZ Starts January 19, 2016 The Osgoode &HUWLoFDWHLQ(QWHUWDLQPHQW/DZ Starts January 25, 2016 Untitled-2 1 2015-05-11 10:21 AM

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