Bjarne P. Tellmann, CLO and GC of Pearson, recently dished up a bit of advice for law departments facing continuing resource restraints – more fluid teams of agile, roving, up-skilled professionals. “The best analogy,” he writes, “might be a military one: Legal must evolve away from maintaining a Cold War style model of standing armies and move toward one that emphasizes ‘special ops’ teams . . . of highly capable and autonomous players who are able to flexibly and rapidly react to the evolving threats of an uncertain landscape.” Here are some of the key cultural traits he says are needed:
- Leads in a VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous) environment
- Shows courage by taking bold and decisive actions to solve problems
- Builds a diverse, cross-cultural, and engaged workforce
- Puts the needs of the whole above those of any sub-unit
For Tellmann’s complete list of cultural traits and capabilities, see “The Rise of the Legal ‘Special Ops’ Team” in the September issue of ACC Docket.