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{{Quote|{{Innovation and the legal eagle}}}} | {{Quote|{{Innovation and the legal eagle}}}} | ||
Every story can be boiled down this: once there was a problem | Every story can be boiled down this: once upon a time there was a problem. It got resolved. It may be triumphant or tragic, but there must be an ''outcome''. Storytellers who don’t get to grips with this fundament — who allow something other than ''resolution of the problem'' to drive their narrative — write unsatisfying books.<ref>This is why some people find the ''Lord of the Rings'' saga so [[tedious]]: all that delving into the history, mythology and language of elves is very clever — and yes, it may document the resolution of a whole raft of ''other'' problems, but it still has almost nothing to do do with the immediate problem of the Hobbits’ quest, beyond providing deep historical context. And as for the Hobbit folk songs, just shoot me. Hold your letters. </ref> To not resolve the problem — ''eventually'': we all love a bit of [[will-they-won’t-they suspense]] as we go — is literally what it means to not satisfy. | ||
Business administrators retooling their operations to “modernise” might bear this in mind. The goal is not ''to introduce [[chatbot]]s'', or ''to outsource'', or to ''implement [[distributed ledger technology]]'' much less to “bring lawyers kicking and screaming into the twenty-first century” — believe it or not, they are already here — but ''to [[Problem solving|solve a problem]]''. | Business administrators retooling their operations to “modernise” might bear this in mind. The goal is not ''to introduce [[chatbot]]s'', or ''to outsource'', or to ''implement [[distributed ledger technology]]'' much less to “bring lawyers kicking and screaming into the twenty-first century” — believe it or not, they are already here — but ''to [[Problem solving|solve a problem]]''. | ||
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===Agents of innovation=== | ===Agents of innovation=== | ||
The flip side to the perils of [[complexity]] and [[normal accident]] theory, is convexity of benefit. Innovation, benefit, boon, fiesta ''is just as hard to predict as catastrophe''. But just as likely, if the people you have spotting weights in the gymnasium of disaster are experienced, clever, imaginative, [[problem solving]] people. | The flip side to the perils of [[complexity]] and [[normal accident]] theory, is convexity of benefit. Innovation, benefit, boon, fiesta ''is just as hard to predict as catastrophe''. But just as likely, if the people you have spotting weights in the gymnasium of disaster are experienced, clever, imaginative, [[problem solving]] people. | ||
===About that “will-they-won’t-they” suspense element=== | |||
Do not overlook the importance of that suspense element. This is what converts the story from basic arithmetic to towering rollercoaster of a tour-de-force. A problem whose solution is clear to all from the outset is — ''not a problem''. Without some cut and thrust, without some swordcraft, there is nothing to see. | |||
Hence the psychology of professional advisory business: looking for ''unsolved ''problems. There is no value in a solved problem — a basic reason [[why is legaltech so disappointing|why legaltech is disappointing]] is that no sooner has it achieved its purpose, the value of that purpose evaporates. Hence, legaltech ''never quite'' solves problems. | |||
What do do if there are no problems? ''Make'' some. Part of the dark art of any advisory business is to persuade the client that it has a problem. That may involve contorting previously-solved problems ever so slightly: twisting their chassis so they don't quite seat themselves on the rails any more. ''Then'' there is some valuable<ref>To the professional advisor: remember in whose eyes beauty lies.</ref> peripheral fiddling to do. | |||
There is an [[emergent]] property of any gathering of [[legal eagle]]s is to surface imperfections in the work product: illuminate them, turn them over, inspect them from all sides — to relentlessly focus until, by consensus, this tiny blemish has achieved momentous significance. | |||
This is the best kind of arse-covering, of course: identifying and, after lengthy exchanges eliminating, phantom contingencies that could not in, a sober universe, come to pass and which, even in our drunken one, are overwhelmingly improbable. | |||
{{sa}} | {{sa}} | ||