May 2005
By Vincent M. Cramer
Have you ever used a word or phrase without thinking about its meaning or context? I surely have and I can tell you about a particularly intriguing word. It is “practice.” Retelling an old joke: “Can you tell me how to get to Carnegie Hall?” The answer is: Practice. Practice. Practice.
Practice is an endeavor undertaken to achieve an objective or reach a destination. There is one application of the word that does not connote that definition. Applying the word “practice” to the prestigious professions of law and medicine, the word defines a journey, not the method for reaching a destination.
A lawyer is what one is, but practicing law is what someone does. Most often we use the word practice in the context of acquiring or polishing a skill, but in law, it means to work at. The word practice, “to work at” can be applied outside of the universe of lawyers. The word has great relevance when coupled with the word diversity.
The viability of a Law Practice can be linked to the vitality of its Diversity Practice. Just as the men and women in the legal profession understand what it means to Practice Law, it is a simple extrapolation to understand what it means to Practice Diversity. Simply put, it means to “work at diversity”.
There is a vast difference between Being Diverse and Practicing Diversity. Being diverse is a state or condition that connotes Inclusion, while practicing diversity is dynamic and conveys Impact. Being diverse has no terminus. The world’s mobility ensures endless and boundless diversity. Therefore, the optimal time to maximize the value of diversity in an organization is now. It is time to Practice Diversity.
Insights vs. Ideas In The Practice of Law
Insights and Ideas are not synonymous. Ideas do not have a place in the practice of law because ideas are like dreams. To understand one, we must spend time deciphering where it came from and what it means. Insights on the other hand are based on the essence of individuality. For example, if you have an insight and you can explain it, or its origin, or how you acquired it, I will then have insight into your insight, enabling me to utilize it.
Ideas are boundless and they proliferate more ideas. The danger of ideas in the practice of law is that they resemble a fireworks display. The ideas fill the sky, but how can we know which ideas are better than others? Which idea is the best? Applying ideas to the practice of law has a fatal flaw. Someone must pass judgment and decide which idea to select. As every lawyer knows, judgment belongs at the end of the process, not the middle.
An insight has two important attributes, tangibility and transferability. Law and insight are natural bedfellows. Diversity fosters insight and insight improves the I.Q. of a law practice.
Improving Insight Quotient requires a three-step process:
- Enrich the law firm with higher levels of diversity
- Utilize the talents and insights of each and every lawyer in the firm.
- Utilize collaboration methods that will maximize individual contribution.
If a firm follows these guidelines, what will change? The answer is that there is no way of knowing. Insights have value when they are applied to a specific objective. Only in that context, do insights have impact.
The United States Supreme Court provides us with some perspective. We are aware that the current court is described as a split-court. Many decisions fall along a 5-4 ideological divide. What takes place behind the scenes is sometimes more noteworthy that what takes place in open court.
In recent years, the diversity of the law clerks that serve the justices has increased measurably. The current law clerks studied the same laws as their predecessors and the justices still demand the “best” clerks. However, something is “different.”
The cases that reach the docket of the U.S. Supreme Court are in some ways “different.” The diversity of the law clerks produces a richness of insights and that has an effect on the cases that advance to the justices of the United States Supreme Court.
Vincent M. Cramer is the author of Cramer’s Cube. He is the founder of Winchester Consulting Group, an Organizational Development and Training Company specializing in the principles of Cramer's Cube and its application to Leadership, Innovation and Diversity Asset Management™. www.cramerscube.com
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