Trusted Human-Centred Skills and the Future of Your Work

TRUSTED HUMAN-CENTRED SKILLS AND THE FUTURE OF YOUR WORK

25 OCTOBER 2023 JAMES FLETCHER, MANAGING DIRECTOR, ALTA PETE CONSULTING © 2023

NOTE: PLEASE DO NOT FURTHER DISTRIBUTE THESE SLIDES WITHOUT PRIOR PERMISSION FROM ALTA PETE

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY, INTRODUCTIONS AND CONNECTION

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OVERVIEW • Welcome, overview and introductions.

• Forces shaping the future of legal work • generative AI, big data, and automated decision-making; and

• implications for the legal profession.

• 6 human-centred skills for lawyers and strategies to build them • • • • • •

Creative thinking, Resilience, Flexibility, Lifelong learning and Relationship intelligence (RQ)

Trust and Maister’s ‘Trusted Advisor’ Framework.

• Action planning, questions and next steps

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FORCES SHAPING THE FUTURE OF LEGAL WORK • Generative AI (e.g. Chat GPT; Bing AI) • Big data (large volume of structured and unstructured data that can be analyzed for insights that lead to better decisions and strategic business moves.

• Automated decision-making - the deployment of technology to automate a decision making process – in whole or part.

• WEF also identified changing employee expectations (e.g. around flexible; hybrid and remote work) as a key driver of change in the global job market.

• [What else?]

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A FEW KEY QUOTES • 44 percent of worker skills will be disrupted over the next five years…The WEF also predicts that six in ten employees will require further skills training, but many will lack access to the resources they need.”

[Source: World Economic Forum’s 2023 Future of Jobs Report]

• “….the very potential of such a technological revolution casts a looming shadow over the industry. It’s almost Damoclean in its nature — a constant reminder to law firm leaders to stay vigilant, adapt, and prepare.”

[Source: State of the Legal Market Report — Navigating towards prosperity amid challenges, Thomson Reuters, 6 Sep 2023].

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IMPLICATIONS FOR LAWYERS AND THE LEGAL INDUSTRY • Opportunities (efficiencies, more with less, allows lawyers to spend more time on strategic and complex work)

• Challenges (bias; data quality; ethical concerns) “It is important that caution is exercised before using automated and machine learning processes in decisions of an evaluative or discretionary nature, even if the machine is employed for only part of a decision. An implicit assumption is made to the superiority of machines to assemble accurate information and to reach more accurate conclusions” Justice Melissa Perry (Federal Court of Australia)

• Robodebt…

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A CAUTIONARY TALE… This US lawyer used ChatGPT to research a legal brief with embarrassing results. We could all learn from his error

• A New York-based lawyer has been fined after he misused the artificial intelligence chatbot, ChatGPT, relying on it for research for a personal injury case.

• Last week Steven A. Schwartz, fellow lawyer Peter LoDuca and law firm Levidow, Levidow & Oberman, were fined US$5,000 (AU$7,485) for submitting fake citations in a court filing….

Source: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-06-24/us-lawyer-uses-chatgptto-research-case-with-embarrassing-result/102490068

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We're all subject to being replaced by a database if all there is is content, but you cannot outsource relationships”.

[Charles Green, President of Trusted Advisor Associates].

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6 HUMAN-CENTRED SKILLS FOR LAWYERS AND STRATEGIES TO BUILD THEM

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1. CREATIVE THINKING • Promote a culture of psychological safety • Invest in wellbeing (see also next slide) • Encourage employees to take risks and learn from their mistakes.

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2. RESILIENCE • Provide support and resources to help employees cope with stress (mentoring; coaching; EAP; access your ‘support team’)

• Encourage employees to take breaks and prioritise recharge and recovery time

• Journalling (e.g. 3 things you are grateful for each day)

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3. FLEXIBILITY • Embed and monitor flexible work arrangements with guiding principles, such as: • •

Flexibility needs to be mutually beneficial;

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Flexible work arrangements value meaningful and regular face-to-face contact; and

Organisational and team needs frame conversations about individual flexibility arrangements;

• Encourage employees to take ownership of their work and set their own goals (span of control)

• Understand your communication style and ‘flex’ depending upon your audience’s style (e.g. relax on facts and value feelings or vice versa).

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4. LIFELONG LEARNING • Keep up to date with training and PD • Remember the 70/20/10 principle.

• Adopt a growth mindset (e.g. what can I learn from this feedback? why am I seeking to make changes?)

• Foster a culture of continuous learning and improvement (Kegan: become a ‘Deliberately Developmental Organisation’).

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5. RELATIONSHIP INTELLIGENCE (RQ) • Look for Win-Wins (listening) • If you can’t agree, choose the best negotiation style for that person • Avoidance; Accommodation; Competition; Collaboration; Compromise •

If conflict arises, remember not all conflict is ‘bad’: • • •

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Task = good Relational = bad There are 3 conflict stages – try to deescalate and ‘hit pause’.

6. TRUST AND MAISTER’S ‘TRUSTED ADVISOR’ FRAMEWORK: • The Trust Equation is an analytical model of trustworthiness that uses four variables to measure trust:

• credibility, reliability, intimacy/rapport and self-orientation.

• Remember to build trust because ‘Trust is the conduit for influence’ [Amy Cuddy].

• Think of a relationship where there is an opportunity to build trust, which part of the trust equation may assist?

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PAIR/SHARE

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ACTION PLANNING, QUESTIONS AND NEXT STEPS

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FURTHER READING • The WEF Future of Jobs Report 2023 - This report from the World Economic Forum provides insights into the key drivers of change in the job market, including big data etc.

• State of the Legal Market Report — Navigating towards prosperity amid challenges • Understanding the Trust Equation - This article provides an overview of the Trust Equation framework and how it can be used to build trust-based relationships with clients.

• An Everyone Culture: Becoming a Deliberately Developmental Organisation (Robert Kegan et. al.).

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