the [non]billable hour

One Thousand Dollars an Hour is Dumb.

If you must compete on price, here's a McDonald's billboard that might give your marketing people some inspiration:


Found on Billboardom.  Full Story Here.

What Do Your Clients Think About You?

Here's an exercise I'm working on for a Client Service Workbook that's been an on-and-off project of mine for a while.

There will be several comic strip-like panels depicting scenes of a client interacting with you and your staff. Each will be on a worksheet you can give to yourself and your staff. Everyone will fill in the empty thought-bubbles with what they believe the "client" is thinking in situations like when:

They're in the reception area waiting for their appointment:


They're listening to you give them advice:


They just received their bill:

Once the thoughts are filled in, you compare and discuss the similarities and differences. To make the exercise even more valuable, ask your current and former clients to complete the same exercise.

Let me know what you think. I'm committed to finishing the Workbook by the end of the year, and will be testing similar exercises with my consulting and coaching clients 'til then.

100 Ways to Be More Creative

I found this great list of 100 Simple, Low-Cost, Soulful Ways to Be More Creative on the Job and wanted to share it with you.  Next time you're stuck, pick a few off the list at random and give them a shot.

Using Simple Technology isn't Easy

Last week, I was listening to several lawyers complain about how hard it was to convince new associates to learn the technology everyone else in the firm had been using for years. From embracing dictation to using books instead of online tools, newbies "just didn't get it" according the the group of senior attorneys. 

As I tried to explain to them that the technology they utilized, though pretty basic, wasn't easier to use for someone unfamiliar with it, I struggled to find a good example. Today, I finally found one in the unlikeliest of places: an article by a teenager who gave up his iPod for a week and replaced it with his father's 25-year-old Sony Walkman.

The article is hilarious at times, but highlights just how older, "simpler" technology isn't actually easier to use for people unaccustomed to it. Some of the best quotes:

My dad had told me it was the iPod of its day. He had told me it was big, but I hadn't realised he meant THAT big. It was the size of a small book.

It took me three days to figure out that there was another side to the tape. That was not the only naive mistake that I made; I mistook the metal/normal switch on the Walkman for a genre-specific equaliser, but later I discovered that it was in fact used to switch between two different types of cassette.

Personally, I'm relieved I live in the digital age, with bigger choice, more functions and smaller devices. I'm relieved that the majority of technological advancement happened before I was born, as I can't imagine having to use such basic equipment every day.

What's Your Type?

I ran across Matthew Butterick's wonderful Typography for Lawyers site today and wanted to share it here. Matthew's a typographer turned civil litigator who started the site to help lawyers write prettier -- if not better.

Why does typography matter?

When you show up to make an oral argument, you make sure that you present yourself as professionally and persuasively as possible. Similarly, your written documents should reflect the same level of attention to typography.

I highly recommend you add this to your reading list. Now, if I could just stop hitting the space bar twice after each period.

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day, everyone.  Here's a presentation full of "Lessons Learned" that uses pictures I've taken of my daughter, Gracie.  Enjoy!

Tired of Talking About the Weather?

Here's a great collection of conversation starters from CanTeach.  Organized helpfully in categories of "What is..." "What if..." "What do you think..." etc., I'd take a quick look at these next time you've got a get together and want to come up with something for everyone to talk about besides the weather or their occupation.

Looking for Cool Ways to Connect with Clients? -(STOP)-

Telegramstop is a company that will send an old-time looking telegram to anyone in the world for under five bucks.  Could be a cool, retro way to connect with some clients or friends.

The Math of Justice

I'm a big fan of Craig Damrauer's New Math site.  He combines simple text and visuals with math to describe sometimes complicated concepts.  Here's his latest:



And my favorite:

Get Up and Think

Sitting at your desk trying to solve a complicated problem?  You might be better off getting out of your chair and moving around.  In this study, researchers found that, "a person's ability to solve a problem can be influenced by how he or she moves."  In other words, our minds and bodies can work together to help us solve problems:

The new findings offer new insight into what researchers call "embodied cognition," which describes the link between body and mind, Lleras said.

"People tend to think that their mind lives in their brain, dealing in conceptual abstractions, very much disconnected from the body," he said. "This emerging research is fascinating because it is demonstrating how your body is a part of your mind in a powerful way. The way you think is affected by your body and, in fact, we can use our bodies to help us think."

Next time you've got a problem to solve, get up off your butt, move around a bit, and you might find that your body helps your brain find the answer.