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January 06, 2012

Peter Friedman: Problems, Creativity and Uncertainty.

For many of us, "Weird Done Well" (to borrow a great phrase from my school chum Jay Harris) can never be Smart or Workable, and we will balk at it, and even jeer, when we see it.

Over the last few years we've written a lot about the (1) elegance and (2) utility of complexity in the workplace. See, for example, "The Great Things at Work: Novelty, Complexity and Ambiguity." Last month, Legal OnRamp's Paul Lippe took the subject another step in his fine "How Client Complexity Will Shape the New Normal For Firms and Law Schools". And yesterday Hull McGuire's Peter Friedman commented at his own blog on a Cornell study last year which showed that humans, precisely at the times they seek and even come up with "creative" solutions to problems, paradoxically exhibit a firmly-entrenched bias against creativity. In "Creativity? YOU CAN’T HANDLE CREATIVITY!", Peter explained that "creative responses to problems create uncertainty, and that people reject those creative ideas because they can’t handle the uncertainty". So the equation might be put roughly this way: Problems or Complexity + Creative Responses (read: sound but "outside the box" possible solutions) = Uncertainty. So why bother being "creative" if it wastes time and leads to just another workplace moment of paralysis?

This, of course, is not what we all wanted to hear as being the knee-jerk response for co-worker reactions to tougher issues at work. However, it does ring true. Most of us are uncomfortable with anything beyond cookie-cutter solutions to problems or, at a minimum, solutions to problems that somehow seem tried, tested and "normal". We have difficulties, moreover, in distinguishing between the unconventional and the illogical. For many of us, "Weird Done Well" (to borrow a great phrase from my school chum Jay Harris) can never be Smart or Workable, and we will balk at it, and even jeer, when we see it.

Solving problems, addressing complexity and even "thinking like a lawyer"--once described by a legendary Skadden partner as thinking about something inextricably attached to something without thinking about the thing to which it's inextricably attached--does not mean Group-Think. It doesn't mean shooting from the hip, either. It does mean a little eyes-wide-open risk taking. But most of all, you need balls. Or courage. Peter, thankfully, is that rare business lawyer who can sell "different" to clients and employees alike--and then deftly implement it. A respected and versatile IP expert and litigator with a Big Law background who has gone from private practice to law professor and back again to practice, he can be counted on to look at things freshly but practically. In his post, Peter puts it succinctly and, I think, accurately:

I’ve always told students and colleagues that being genuinely creative requires courage and the ability to persevere in the face of rejection. There’s good reason for that. As much as “innovation” is the catchword of our age, very few people in decision-making positions are really brave enough to accept innovative ideas (whether they’re teachers, school administrators, politicians, lawyers, or corporate executives).

Peter Friedman

Posted by JD Hull at 08:19 PM | Comments (0)

January 04, 2012

Environmental Protection: U.S. Department of Homeland Security Has a Huge Weed Problem.

Well, that explains a lot. Poised at a rare intersection of the environment, inland waterways, immigration policy and national security, Environmental Protection magazine reports that "Giant Weed Creates Threat to Our Nation's Ecosystems and Border Security". Seriously, we have here a textbook example of "the complex society" at work. Think of the divisions of labor needed to address this issue fully. You need specialists. But who quarterbacks it? Excerpts:

Along U.S. southern coastal rivers, most particularly Texas’ Rio Grande, an invasive species of plant known as giant reed is encroaching on the water, overrunning international border access roads, and creating a dense cover for illegal activities. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has called for a plan to control this weed.

Giant reed, more commonly known as Carrizo cane in Texas, is a nonnative bamboo-like plant that can grow more than 32 feet tall. To support its rapid growth rate, it consumes large amounts of water compared to native vegetation. The weed reduces arthropod diversity and abundance in our ecosystems and destroys wildlife habitat.

Posted by JD Hull at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)

Iowa: You got me where you want me.

Results for Iowa Republican Caucus (U.S. Presidential Primary)

Mitt Romney 30,015 24.6%
Rick Santorum 30,007 24.5%
Ron Paul 26,219 21.4%
Newt Gingrich 16,251 13.3%
Rick Perry 12,604 10.3%
Michele Bachmann 6,073 5%
Jon Huntsman 7,450. 6%
Herman Cain 58 0%
Buddy Roemer 31 0%
No Preference 1,350. 1%
Other 1,170 .1%

Source: AP

Posted by JD Hull at 11:42 PM | Comments (0)

January 02, 2012

Edinburgh's Hogmanay Celebration is Decadent and Depraved.

So we'd like to go to it next year. See this BBC piece on Scotland's New Year's bash this year: "Edinburgh Hogmanay Revellers See In 2012". And then take a look in The Guardian at this one: "Pit Them Away Hen! Guide to a Real Scottish Hogmanay". For more on this shameful ancient annual fire lit Pagan bender, with its Robert Burns overtones of Celtic mysticism, witches and pleasures of the flesh, to which no one has ever invited us, see Biggar Bonfire 2011.

Three days ago, the Up Helly Aa Vikings from Lerwick in the Shetland Islands started Hogmanay's annual torchlight procession in Edinburgh. (David Moir/Reuters)

Posted by JD Hull at 11:37 PM | Comments (0)

Our 2nd "most popular" post in the last 12 months was about....Proofreading.

The Damning Quality of Faint Self-Praise. Yeah, Proofreading. Which is important to writers, lawyers, advertising execs and most civilized business people and--often like Writing Itself these days--is an underappreciated and endangered discipline.

The first, or "most popular", post at What About Clients/Paris? site in 2011 was infamous, often detested and the one of which we're most proud in the past year hands down (or thumbs down). We'll try get back to that one later this week or next and make a few important (we think) points about the offending post.

But the second most clicked-upon piece, from August 19, 2011, was this: "Proofreading: It's a Client Thing--Not Optional." We're even more pedestrian than we had thought. And could you check for typos in this post, please? There must be at least one.

Proofreading: Unsexy but hard.

Posted by JD Hull at 01:19 PM | Comments (2)

January 01, 2012

Marrakesh: Invest in "people different from you."

American expat Maryam Montague's My Marrakesh is consistently first-rate. Stylish and playful, yet profound and lovingly-written, this blog, like its author, is eclectic, well-traveled, highly educated and elegant. Fun, too. And she knows that life is, and should always be, a journey and adventure. Here's one we like we can use to carry us through the Rest of the Year 2012: "A tale of a new year of new adventures."

Photo: My Marrakesh/Vogue Italia.

Posted by JD Hull at 12:55 AM | Comments (0)