Connecting Dots

As anyone who's worked on a large project knows, you can start to view the world through the prism of that project. New data gets filtered through the context of that project; patterns emerge.

Which is probably why some recent essays and analysis of fields unrelated to the legal profession are resonating with similarities.

Take, for instance, a very informative and insightful recent post from Barrett Garese, founder and CEO of Spytap Industries, a company specializing in online content and social media strategies.

You can read it in full here, but the upshot is this:

The entertainment industry is at a crossroads because the internet has essentially acted as a disruptive technology, in that it is providing alternative access to content and/or services that were previously the sole domain of thoroughly entrenched, system-wide gatekeepers.

Read that paragraph again, and we could be talking about the legal profession.

Garese notes that "the argument is often made that the internet is putting thousands of people out of work and killing off professional content."

This same argument is heard in legal office hallways, as well, as the internet has modified access to legal content (i.e., online legal forms sites and legal information sites), the cost of legal work (LPO, virtual attorneys, and virtual associates), and the physical proximity of legal service providers (i.e., skype, VOIP, social networking, and every other online tool that allows people thousands of miles apart to share a virtual office).

But Garese dismisses that argument, saying "This may or may not be true, however it’s irrelevant for the following reason: disruptive technologies always put people out of work…temporarily."

Temporarily. Because new models emerge. That is fact. Not a question of 'if', but 'what' and 'when'. Just like a forest fire is nature's way of clearing out the dead mass so that new growth can emerge.

While Garese's summation is aimed at the entertainment industry, it is also so directly appicable to the legal profession that it's worth quoting in full.

Big changes to established industries are both painful to the aforementioned established companies, and an opportunity to the more nimble. Business models will change drastically over the next few years to compensate and remain relevant, but when everyone is comfortable there’s no room or interest in changes.

Right now, entertainment is in a low-to-mid-level state of chaos. There’s little confidence in the status-quo, and unlike past decades no one seems to know what the future will bring. This means that those who are willing to experiment will have first opportunity to rewrite the rules. Those who are content to live with the status quo will be replaced. This is equally true across the entire scale of entertainment, from large to small. We’re well placed in a disrupted field, and that presents unprecedented opportunities.

So what is the future of entertainment? It’s up to us to decide. All of us. Because we now have a seat at the table. Fortune (in all forms) favors the bold.

So grab a seat and speak up.