Cranberries in the salad: finding motivation to do the things you don´t like

My mother was not a salad person. So when I was a kid I did´nt eat a lot of salads, and frankly I did´nt like them at all. To me salads were similar to the food eaten by horses and cows, not by human beings. But my wife is a very salad person, so she tought me that salads are very good and healthy. I totally agreed with her … except that I still did´nt like salads! So one day in a restaurante I was served a salad that included cranberries, and that changed my relationship with salads for ever. I loved it! From that moment on, I don´t need to eat salad to look healthy cause I really like it, as long as it has cranberries.

After spending years studying and working with lawyers as a management consultant, I realized that the problem lawyers have with strategy and management is not that they don´t understand the issues involved and the need to work on them. Normally they show interest and even become enthusiastic about the need to change and improve on that area. But it is not unusual to find these same lawyers some time later and when you ask them, “how is that change process you wanted to implement?” the answer is “nothing was done, we have execution problems”. So many lawyers have the inclination to blame their poor execution skills when they cannot put into practice decisions related to management and strategy that they have previously agreed and commited to carry out.

At the beggining that answer sounded intriguing since the actions, behaviors and decisions required to perform management goals were not technically difficult at all, much less for smart people like so many partners in Latam firms. So after some time I learned to decodify that language. When lawyers say that they have execution issues what they really mean is “I hear what you say and I agree, but I don´t like it, so I will not do it”. This is quite surprising –and even concerning- when the issues involved are of enormous relevance for the life and success of the firm. But lawyers –like David Maister finally realized- are special. Their perception of reality is so entrenched in their own individual well-being, that the challenges and hazards of the firm are but distant realities that only become compelling in extreme situations. In the meantime, they want to live in their beloved autonomy and freedom like a passionate Robespierre, cutting the head of anyone who dares to limit that highest human right.

If that is so, how can you motivate lawyers to take care of these important matters, relegating their precious freedom? The answer is simple and complex at the same time: you have to put cranberries in the salad. Management and strategic matters –including culture and leadership problems- are like the salad for many lawyers. They understand its healthy for the firm to deal with them effectively; but still they don´t like it. And until they find cranberries for that horrible salad, they will not eat it –or at least not in sufficient quantities-. Much like poor Jaime.

In his interesting book about motivation, Daniel Pink (“Drive. The Surprising Truth about what Motivate Us”) mentions three basic sources of motivation in any human endevour: Autonomy, Mastery and Purpose. We don´t want to mess around too much with Autonomy since we got tons of that. But Mastery –the pleasure of becoming a master in a certain task or activity- and Purpose –finding a bigger sense of contribution for what we do than ourselves- are probably a good pot to look for cranberries.

The legal profession is less and less a purely individual project. To be really good and succeed will require to collaborate with other lawyers in the firm. So Mastery, in the deepest sense of the word should be considered a collective objective and is only achieved accepting and embracing an organization perspective. If individual lawyers can accept and perceive in real life how much better their professional work could be in a well organized environment, they would not hesitate so much in waiving many of these individual prerrogatives.

Purpose is also a very powerful source of motivation, if only we would let ourselves be captured by the excitement of being part of a great collective project. Doing things with others is so more fun than alone; and we don´t need to control or get the biggest piece of the cake to achieve that. Participating in something that we can leave as a legacy one day could be a big source of satisfaction and self-fullfilment. But we need to try those cranberries in the salad in order to test the results.

So for next year my wish for all of you is that you can find the cranberries that could make your tasteless management salad a great meal, and you can find the motivation for creating great organizations and not just law firms with great individuals.

Have a Happy Holidays!