By Dr. Shawn A Noble
This is part one of a three part series on problem solving
When it comes to your law firm, have you ever asked yourself, “What happened to all the fun I was supposed to be having?” After all, you got into this profession to help others and protect their rights. What could be more noble than that?
Instead of practicing what you love, you likely spend most of your time dealing with things such as: cash flow management, managing employees, creating processes to run the business better, bringing in new technology, keeping existing technology working, time management, delegating tasks, updating strategic and marketing plans, and of course growing the business. This leads us to conclude the understatement of all time…running a business is hard work…but does it need to be this difficult?
The above problems are not exclusive to your law firm or to any business for that matter. Yet, what tends be ineffective is how those problems are solved. Most businesses are focused on the execution of tasks, which means that actions are done quickly in a reactive nature. Rewards and recognition are often given to those who can act efficiently to provide a remedy. While this keeps your practice moving, the result is more long-term organizational stress as only symptoms are addressed and the cause is never fully considered.
To get to the root cause of your organization’s problems a more proactive means of solving the problem needs to be utilized. And for this to happen two things must be considered:
- The problem-solving style of the people who are solving the problem
- The process being used to solve the problem.
When considering the process, best practices include:
- Defining the problem
- Developing solutions
- Creating and executing a plan
In part two of the series, we will look at the impact that people and their problem solving styles have on solving problems. Read part two now.
For more information concerning services for law firms by Dr. Shawn Noble please go to www.thenobleconsultinglawfirm.com or contact cheryl@lawfirmcoach.com. Law Firm Coach uses the concept of ideation or creative thinking to develop common sense law firms that withstand the test of time.
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