The most successful attorneys help companies reduce risk, avoid
problems and break down barriers. They find loop holes that others miss and
help define strategic direction into executable steps. There is a single trait,
common among just about every attorney I have ever met, that helps them do
these wonderful things for their clients. It’s called skepticism. Skepticism is
the lens through which lawyers view the world. Skepticism is a pervasive doubt
as to the truth of something. And that doubt is bred into them in law school. I
suspect, even, that those who are natural skeptics gravitate toward the
practice of law more than anyone else. The law and precedent is a comfortable
place for those that are skeptical and doubtful. Doubt results in caution,
which is good. Caution is the most essential survival trait.
On the other hand, innovators are not cautious people. They
don’t doubt that their ideas will work. They try new things with little regard
for the consequences of what they create. To the innovator, their boundless
curiosity leads them to try new things, analyze what results, make adjustments
and then try it again. They repeat this process sometimes hundreds of times
until they create the vision that inspired their drive. The only role doubt ever
plays in the innovator’s process is to provide direction.
Inventors and innovators are not, by their nature, skeptics.
Innovation requires a different mindset, one that seeks why something didn’t
work and what will make it work. Skeptics approach challenges from a risk
aversion point of view. They look for why something won’t work and avoid that
risk. Skeptics look for the consequences of actions and inflate those
consequences to reveal its risk. Innovators deflate the consequences to reveal
an action’s opportunity.
The trait that makes for highly successful legal practitioners
also limits these same people when it comes to business and client development.
The skeptical nature of their world view can keep them from the experimentation
and practice that hones the skills of business and client development. Skepticism
can also limit an attorney’s ability to become a trusted advisor of companies.
Business leaders value skeptical caution. But they also value the innovators
curiosity and drive for breaking new ground. To win the confidence of a
business leader, don’t tell them all the ways something could go wrong. Tell
them what you think will work. Skeptics who consistently dampen the discussion
of opportunity risk being shut out of the room.
In working recently with a young partner, I was reminded of
the devastating impact of self-limiting beliefs and skepticism. He asked me how
he could build his practice and what he could do on a daily basis to move
toward a larger book of clients. I explained the process and gave him a list of
five things he could do each day to build his practice. While his curiosity
asked a brilliant question, his limiting beliefs and skepticism found a
consequence that suggested his situation was different and that the tactics
would not work for him.
So, how does one turn skepticism into opportunism. First,
recognize the thought pattern as it happens. Ask yourself, have I squelched an
idea because I’ve seen a potential negative consequence? Was this idea well
thought out? If so, then rate that consequence in terms of the likelihood of it
actually happening. If the potential consequence is highly likely to happen
(most well thought out actions do no produce negative consequences), examine
whether the unintended effect would help you understand better how to do the
same thing the next time. In other words, unintended consequences provide
direction. The unintended consequences of thoughtful actions should rarely
derail those activities. And yet, skeptics often allow unlikely consequences
to inhibit their action. Even knowing that taking action is the fundamental energy
that drives business development success.
So, what consequences do you fear?
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