Herding Millennials: a quest against all odds

“but to wait for you is all I can do, and that´s what I´ve got to face …. You coming back to me is against all odds, it´s the chance I´ve got to take.” Phil Collins, Against All Odds.

There is hardly any talk or analysis about management in law firms that does not include the topic of Millennials. In many cases is has become repetitive and superficial as there seems to be a general agreement that the new generations just want to have a good time and not work very hard. So a long list of complaints and whinings has become part of the repertoire when dealing with Millennials. Except that this attitude misses the deeper crux of what is going on.

There has not been really any deep generation clash until the Millennials. The Baby Boomers created the post-war culture with all the paradigms related to effort, achievement, investment in the future and established role models. Generation after generation have been adopting these standards, with minor changes to it´s substance. Even the Gen X continued discussing the same concerns and hopes.

But Millennials really brought a new perspective. They did´nt even bother to question the old paradigms; they just ignored them. The realities created by the new technologies and life styles were so different that a lot of things that are obvious to us simply became outdated in a short period of time. I will not get into an extended analysis of the Millennials, since you can find a trillion articles about them, but I do want to stress that this matter implies dealing with professionals from a wholly different perspective than we have been used to so far.

In my book about management of law firms (“Organizando Firmas de Servicios Profesionales. El Caso de los Abogados, Thomson Reuters, 2011”) I define the issue of the new generations as the “Big Challenge” since this may well be the biggest hurdle that law firms will have to deal with in the next decade and beyond, even harder that technology or other strategic dilemmas. From my perspective, Millennials pose two significant challenges to the basic economic and culture model of law firms.

1. The Pyramid Model. The pyramid structure is based on the Cravath model that assumes that a certain number of junior associates enter the law firm with the expectation of developing a career over a long period of time. This creates a tournament dynamic where, through the up-or-out system, the best of the best will stay and the rest will leave the firm. The expectation of the “partnership promise” is of the essence of the modern law firm. The problem is that Millennials are not very interested in that model. Long careers and attachment to an institution is something outside their normal scope of interest and motivation. Short term objectives, the search for a variety of professional experiences and attachment to closer groups or social networks, describe what the new generations are looking for. As a consequence, many times it is the best and not the worst that leave the firm.
2. The Billing Hour. The second basic concept that is coming under scrutiny is the culture of long hours at the office as a value in itself. In a business where billing hours is the basis for economic success, it is obvious that staying a long day would always be viewed favorably, regardless of efficiency and actual value produced for clients. This has created sometimes a toxic culture of effort above anything else. But Millennials are completely against this approach. In the era of technology, measuring performance by the amount of time spend in the office seems like a silly proposition. They would rather be measured by efficiency and results, and have greater flexibility to be at the office or elsewhere. A law firm where spending a certain amount of hours or staying late is required will simply become not acceptable.

It is obvious that these challenges provoke deep disturbances in the cultural and business model of law firms, which has been successful for many decades. When you are required to make changes that put in question your deepest beliefs and behaviors, you need to stop and think harder.

Normally we face challenges that break our status-quo using our existing beliefs and take either of two roads: (i) we expect the new challenge to adapt to our existing circumstances and criteria, or (ii) when adaptation is not possible, we surrender to the new reality while probably destroying more than it is necessary of our current existence. Because the second option is so painful, we normally choose the first one but at the cost of neutralizing or even destroying what the new reality is bringing to us. If it can´t adapt to who we are and our circumstances, we basically reject it, even if we need it or, deep inside, we want it.

But there is a third option, which requires that we open our minds and hearts and question the way we see life and reality. Sometimes it does not mean we have to change deep values, but actually to adapt them to a new circumstance. To simplify life, we tend to insulate it, control it with our personalities, all the days ordered and all actions in sequence. But then, to our own dismay, we may find that an unexpected spark has landed (which sometimes we cannot even put a name to it). When that happens, you can suffocate it or drown in it yourself (which are unpractical solutions). But we can also open up to it and think from a different perspective. It may be scary, because it means dealing with things in ways we are not used to, but this is exactly what the new realities require.

Millennials are our translators of the new world. They tell us, without intending to do it, what are the values and systems that rule the new world. Within our industry, they are making clear already that some of our basic assumptions will not work in this new market. To remain competitive and attractive to new generations these assumptions will have to be revisited. Herding Millennials using our traditional management ideas will most likely prove a futile endeavor against all odds. Unlike the Phil Collins´ song we cannot wait for them to change or come back. We have to try it ourselves. It´s the chance we´ve got to take.