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Partnership | MONDAY, MARCH 21, 2016 | S9

Embrace Culture
Are Law Firms Ready to

As a Path to Survival?

does this mean? How might we use the model

BY SILVIA L. COULTER
above to unravel the meaning of “unique cul-
Ature” in any irm’s organization?
strong, powerful and constructive culture Tools are available today to measure orga-
has a signiicant impact on a business’s nizational culture effectiveness. Simply put,
ability to differentiate, to offer top-shelf assessments can be used to “assess both a
client service, to attract and retain talent at all irm’s operating culture in terms of the behav-
levels and to reach new levels of proitability. iors and personal styles that are expected
Regardless of how technology continues to (i.e., behavioral norms) and its ideal culture

help the legal industry reinvent itself from a in terms of the behaviors and personal styles
mature industry to a young and thriving indus- that should be expected (i.e., espoused val-
try, culture and people will remain a key driver ues).”4
of any irm’s long-term success. As a strategic With the pressures of the maturing legal
imperative, creating a constructive culture of industry before us, many factors contribute
success takes much more than words on a to a potential disconnect between a irm’s
strategic plan or words with no actions. The ideal culture and a irm’s operating culture.
very fabric of irms’ cultures is being frayed Human Synergistics will call these “causal fac-
through the disruptive and changing climate. tors” and suggest that when the causal factors

The leaders who effectively manage change are in alignment with organizational values,
and underscore those values and beliefs that the proile of the irm is in alignment with
drive culture will ind their irms still standing the ideal. However, when the causal factors
long after many others have failed.
are not in alignment with the organizational
William (Bill) Lee, immediate past co-man- values, they suggest there occurs a “cultural
aging partner at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale disconnect.”
and Dorr comments: “Thomas Edison said, We interpret this disconnect and speculate
‘Vision without execution is hallucination.’” on identifying some of these factors which
Bill added, “Execution without a strong, coher- may include: external factors such as contin-

ent and well communicated and understood ued erosion of client share of legal budget;
culture is impossible. The values and culture of continued competitive pressures; the war for
an institution are what allows people to meet good legal talent and the evolution of new
challenges, innovate and create and execute.” competitors in the market including legal
There is so much to say about culture and its startups and accounting irms’ expansion of
impact on the organization, it is dificult to legal services offerings. These bridge directly K
know where to begin.
to internal factors, which include: a drop in OC
Since the days of Maslow and his introduc- inancial resources and continued decline of GST
BI
tion of his hierarchy of needs1 (motivational proits; talent retention; client retention and
theory), many experts have studied human subject of culture is Edgard Schein, Professor tion. Architecture, furniture, dress code, ofice growth; emerging technologies; the need for
needs and the impact individuals people may Emeritus with MIT Sloan School of Manage- jokes, all exemplify organizational artifacts. innovation; and many other pressures affect-
have on an organization’s cultural effective- ment, and author of many best sellers includ- Artifacts are the visible elements in a culture ing the traditional law irm management mod-
ness. To align people with the organization’s ing the Corporate Culture Survival Guide and, and they can be recognized by people not el and thus the members (owners and staff)
goals requires leadership and communication, his most recent book, Humble Inquiry—The part of the culture.
of the irm. Firms that take the time to assess
elements necessary to create a strong culture. Art of Asking and Not Telling. An illustration • Espoused values are the organization’s their cultures with appropriate diagnostic
Organizational culture has been deined by of Schein’s famous organizational model and stated values and rules of behavior. It is how tools will ind they will be better at dein-
many experts as a system of shared assump- deinitions are below:
the members represent the organization both ing their ideal culture, understanding their

tions, values, and beliefs, which governs how Schein’s Organizational to themselves and to others. This is often current culture and those factors impacting
people behave in organizations. These shared expressed in oficial philosophies and pub- the culture. Using the data and implementing
values have a strong inluence on the people Culture Model
lic statements of identity. It can sometimes change over time, starting with small groups,
in the organization and dictate how they act Artifacts
often be a projection for the future, of what will help irms to thrive in new ways.
toward peers, leadership, direct reports and the members hope to become. Examples of For some irms the answer has been to run
clients. These beliefs guide people in how they this would be employee professionalism, or leaner and smarter—re-examine allocation of
perform their jobs. Every organization devel- Values a “family irst” mantra. Trouble may arise if irm resources and expenditures; promote
ops and maintains a unique culture, which espoused values by leaders are not in line the best and brightest; meet regularly with
provides guidelines and boundaries for the with the deeper tacit assumptions of the clients and other effective strategies to com-
Assumptions
behavior of the members of the organization. culture.2
bat the shrinking market. For other irms,
Cultures are deep-seated, pervasive and com- • Shared Basic Assumptions are the deeply the answer has been to cut costs across the
plex. Yet we know irms with strong, support- Schein’s model of organizational culture embedded, taken-for-granted behaviours board—downsize support staff; vote out
ive cultures outperform irms with misaligned originated in the 1980s. Schein (2004) iden- which are usually unconscious, but constitute unproductive partners and offer fewer the
cultures. To understand culture and especially tiies three distinct levels in organizational the essence of culture. These assumptions chance for advancement to equity partner-
to implement cultural change, requires reading cultures:
are typically so well integrated in the ofice ship. Others yet will rely on a strong lateral
and learning from the experts.
(1) artifacts and behaviours
dynamic that they are hard to recognize from integration strategy. Some of these irms have
One of the foremost authorities on the
(2) espoused values
within.3
made the right decisions, but how many will

(3) assumptions
have made the wrong decisions only to be
The three levels refer to the degree to
From Theory to Practice
seen in the not-too-distant future? To what
SILVIA COULTER, a principal with LawVision Group, is which the different cultural phenomena are extent have these changes impacted an oth-
certiied in leadership and culture assessments and visible to the observer.
Many law irms will describe their irm as “a erwise successful culture?
assists irms with strategic client growth initiatives. • Artifacts include any tangible, overt or collaborative culture,” or a “unique culture.” Firms focused on culture may reap unseen
She may be reached at [email protected].
verbally identiiable elements in an organiza-
These descriptions beg the question, what
beneits including (think Zappos, » Page S11