There was a fiery debate at dinner a few weeks ago. My friends are attorneys, and their youngest son just landed his first internship at a prominent Los Angeles firm.
His parents tried to warn him about the ups and downs of Big Law. The war stories kept rolling about last-minute briefs to be written, long nights researching legal precedents, and scrambling to please a partner.
Their son listened intently and then laughed, “Thank heavens I have AI. I can crush those assignments and still make it out to the beach at lunch for some surf time!”
OK—that life lesson didn’t go as planned, but I think you get the point the parents tried to make. What their son missed was that speeding up productivity left him with what only humans can do: Collaborate.
Everyone knows how to prompt, but few know how to partner. Aki Ito recently noted this phenomenon in the article, “AI is Making the Workplace More Productive—and Less Social”. Ito wrote, “Becoming more productive and more alone at the same time was never the trade we thought we were making.”
The heat is on for everyone to improve their collaboration acumen, not only people new to their careers. The easiest and fastest way to identify the collaborator you’d like to be is by remembering someone you’ve admired.
And here’s the secret sauce: Think bigger than someone’s bank account or title. Recall someone who had the wisdom to share how life really works. In addition to their education and lived experience, what intangible qualities did they bring? What competencies did they practice to sidestep clashing with colleagues and managers?
Next, boil those qualities down into memorable keywords. What are the competencies you’d like to carry around in your back pocket?
For instance, imagine having the sophistication to be the partner who is:
Now, let’s put it all together, comparing what used to work for his parents vs. the practices the summer legal intern can use. Here are ways the people skill keywords will help the intern distinguish himself and avoid collaboration conflicts.
For instance:
* Long research white papers used to impress partners, but any AI model can bring facts. What clients really want is legal advice that offers insightful, realistic recommendations. On page 1.
* Exhaustive contract redrafts were once considered the bare minimum. But now, stylistic wordsmithing is seen as a fast pass to irritate everyone in the deal room. The better choice is to balance a thorough understanding of the risks with strategic and fair negotiation of the essentials.
* And the “always on” mindset once seemed notable. However, the need to validate thinking in five chats with different audiences is simply exhausting. The new name of the game is fewer, faster decisions from targeted, need-to-know stakeholders.
In the June series, Constructive Collaboration Do’s and Don’ts, we’ve discussed how to overcome partnership blocks using soft skills. With AI, it’s easy to know a lot. However, knowledge alone doesn’t translate to being a good partner.
So, if you want to increase your professional status as an invaluable collaborator, don’t overlook people skills and do ace the intangibles.