The “cutting edge” and execution for law departments trying to stay sharp

Not to put too fine a point on this, but innovative, out-of-the-box, leading-edge efforts by law departments usually don’t cut the mustard. It’s risky going down a path others haven’t helped clear. (As a meta-post on innovation, see my posts in 2005 of April 5 regarding law department size and innovation, May 4 on law firms not being innovative or being rewarded for new thinking, Sept. 10 to a similar conclusion, Sept. 10, 2005 on ranking the sources of innovation, Sept. 13 on the bias toward ersatz novelty, Oct. 10 on incremental innovation and, and Nov. 16, 2005 on a kaizen approach to change.)

When Strategy + Business, Fall 2005, Iss. 41, at 37 polled a group of cognoscenti about the conceptual breakthroughs that had appeared in that magazine in the past decade, the number one vote getter was “execution.” Doing the small things well and consistently over time, brings success far more certainly than devising a new way entirely.