Building Resilience:

Practical Tools for Keeping Your HeadWhile Navigating a Changing World

This Ever Happen To You?

• Something is going to happen

• That Happening is going to be awful

• That Something is Going to Be My Fault

• (Repeat)

• Distress is Not Wanting What We Presumeis Going to Happen

Tools We Picked Up in Law School

• Taught That the Law (and You) Were Unique

• How to seek (and present) information

• How to work on your own

• How to avoid risk and crave certainty

• How to think criticially (skepticism, pessimism)

• How to compete (Get a job)

• How to Follow the Rules

What Tools Are You Using Now?

• All of the Above

• Seeking Compensation

• Seeking Clients

• Seeking Advancement

• Craving affirmation (from clients,decisionmakers, higher-ups)

• Living in a zero-sum world- Seeking toAvoid Blame

How Are Those Tools WhenThings Don’t Go As “Planned”?

• Ever thought your way out of a painfulemotional situation?

• How Do Those Tools Work When the Paceof Change Picks Up?

• How Do Those Tools Work in YourPersonal Life?

And The New Tools?• “The Real Problem of humanity is the following:

we have Paleolithic emotions, medievalinstitutions, and god-like technology.” – E.O.Wilson

• An Information God and a Dopamine Dispenser

• Saps your attention, and momentarily assuages allthat discomfort.

• And often you don't even notice.

Responses to Distress

• The need to try and control it

• Strike back, numb out, bliss out

• Things get stuck in that endless cycle

What is Missing?• The Capability to Manage Emotion

• What to Think

• Space to Consider What is Happening and How toRespond Rather Than React

• Cooperation/Collaboration/Communication(Listening)

• Context/Awareness

Summing This Up• Most of us live mindlessly all of the time-

• "Everyone who drives slower than I do is anidiot. Anyone who drives faster than I do isa maniac." - George Carlin

• Using the Tools We Have means we don'tsee the whole picture and miss what is rightin front of us

• Not there and not there to know we are notthere

One Tool to Help

• the ability to seek out, create, and activelynotice new things

• Actively notice new things -->puts you inthe present -->makes you aware of context--

• Without judging

– letting go of the illusion that we are in control

– Beginner's mind and the ability to listen orevaluate without preconceived notions

Notice your Biases

• Never attribute to malice what canadequately be explained by stupidity. -Hanlon's Razor

• Whatever you are doing can be done inmany different ways

• Turn rampaging thoughts into next actions.

Business and Mindfulness• Mindlessness is the application of

yesterday's business solutions to today'sproblems

• Mindfulness is attunement to today'sdemands to avoid tomorrow's problems

• If you want to change it, you have to see itfor what it really is.

Why Do Lawyers Resist Change?

It is very difficult to change the wheels on a movingcar. – Richard Susskind

Hesitancy and Fear

• “Drive out fear. No one can put in his best performance unlesshe feels secure.” – W. Edwards Deming

• Pause and Plan, Don’t React

Change Your Mind

• Put some space between stimulus andreaction

• Get quiet

• Get outside

• Find the flow

Adopt a Growth Mind-Set

A Plug For Work-LifeIntegration

• Treat yourself, at work or play, the sameway

• "You must have work-life balance"

– this is mindless because we make this binarydistinction mindfully but then use it mindlessly

– you don't stop being human at work, and youdon't stop being organized or task-oriented athome

Paradox: You Have to Ignore Technologyto Plan How to Use It

• Technology is a Distraction

• Lawyers Require Sustained Attention-– Minimize Your Beeps and Notifications (and your Interruptions

and Meetings)

– Guard Your Attention Jealously

• It’s Not What You Read, It’s What You Ignore

The Checklist Manifesto

• Why Use Your Head as a Storage Device?

• Document a Process Well One Time, Never Have to Document itAgain (Repurpose)

• Benefits:

– Delegates

– Reduces Mistakes

– Promotes and standardizes best practices

– Stays with the organization

– Encourages revision and improvement (Productivity)

– Capable of application in other areas (Innovation)

– Rewards input and collaboration

• Accepting coaching and criticism

Two Points to Ponder

“If you can’t describe what you are doing as aprocess you don’t know what you are doing.”

W. Edwards Deming

“Drive out fear. No one can put in his bestperformance unless he feels secure.”

W. Edwards Deming

Why Are Computer Tools So Useful?

• External Memory (Storage and Organization)

• More Connections (Marketing, InformationSharing)

• Communication and Publishing (Automation,Collaboration)

Computer Technology is Just One of YourEssential Tools (And You Need Them All)

• People

• Processes

• Computer Technology

Helpful Tech Tools

• Checklist tools

• Flow Charts and Mindmaps

• Forms and Templates

• Collaborative Tools

• Knowledge Management

Keys for Your Plan

• Own, Encourage, and Follow Through

• Provide adequate resources for the longterm

• Get Buy-In (involvement, training, rewards)

• Recruit (from within and without)

• You Have to Know What You Don’t Know

Practical Tips To Get You Started

• Any office task you do repeatedly will improve with computer technology.

• Any “How do I do this?” question can be answered by you. Not by IT, not byanyone else.

• Before seeking (human) assistance, put your question/issue/problem inquotations and paste it into The Google.

• If you asked it, someone else wants to know the answer, too.

• When in doubt, right click and undo.

• Study and Practice the Art of Finding (Be Your Own Librarian)

– Use the search and find functions in all programs.

– Name and organize documents according to a plan (so you can find them)• Tag and Label

• Sort and filter

– Before closing a matter, “harvest” all information and knowledge that youmay use again, and store where you can find them.

Practical Tips For Popular Programs

• Microsoft Word

– Use Styles for numbering any multilevel list.

– Use Templates, and Automatic Tables of Contents and Authorities in Briefs

– Hyperlink and cross-reference in contracts.

– Use QuickParts and AutoText

• Microsoft Outlook

– Use Folders

– Create Rules

– Sort, Search, and Flag

• PDFs

– Create using a print driver and make them searchable.

– Bookmark

– Extract Pages

– Reduce File Size

– Batch Operations/Actions to Multiple Files

– Bate stamp electronically.

Cause for Optimism –These Tools Enable Some Amazing Things

• Flexibility

• 24/7 Access

• Expanded Reach

• Increased Networking and MentorshipOpportunities

• More Choices Than EverFrom “5 Things 21 Century Lawyers Should Be Thankful For in 2013, byNicole Black, MyCase Blog, www.mycase.com/blog/2013/11/5-things-21st-century-lawyers-thankful-2013/

Create Space in Your Day(Energy)

• Exercise

• Leisure Time – Flow

• Reducing Distractions

• Rest and Recovery

Create Some Space in Your Life– Hack It

Build The Profession andContribute To It

• Be Generous of Your Time and Your Knowledge- WithoutExpecting Anything in Return

• If You Are Taking Care of Yourself, You Will Take Careof Others

• Build Empathy

• Get Out and Play -http://pringlepracticeblog.blogspot.com/2015/05/in-celebration-of-play.html

Criticisms

• Rules and Structure necessary

• Not Any Good at It- Losing My Edge

• The Impassive, Professional, “Stoic” Ideal

• There are more things, Lucilius, thatfrighten us than injure us, and we suffermore in imagination than in reality.

-Seneca

Conclusion

“Things that aren’t planned, don’t happen!”

-- C.L. Kendall

Conclusion

"I didn't come down here to change your mindabout anything, but to ease my own mindabout everything." - Todd Snider

Questions?Jack PringleAdams and Reese LLP(803) 343-1270

jack.pringle@arlaw.com@jjpringleschttp://pringlepracticeblog.blogspot.com

1501 Main Street, 5th FloorColumbia, SC 29201www.adamsandreese.com

Resources• Baba Shiv, How Do You Find Breakthrough Ideas?, Stanford Graduate

School of Business, http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/baba-shiv-how-do-you-find-breakthrough-ideas

• The Resilient Lawyer http://theanxiouslawyer.com/rl-23-jack-pringle/

• Farnham Street https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/

• One You Feed With Michael Taft http://www.oneyoufeed.net/michael-taft/

• Tim Ferris with Brene Brownhttp://fourhourworkweek.com/2015/08/28/brene-brown-on-vulnerability-and-home-run-ted-talks/

• On Being With Ellen Langer http://www.onbeing.org/program/ellen-langer-science-of-mindlessness-and-mindfulness/6332

• You Are Not So Smart http://youarenotsosmart.libsyn.com/062-naive-realism-lee-ross-0

More Resources

• City Yoga http://cityyogasc.com/site/

• 10 (Ok 11) Books for GettingBetter http://pringlepracticeblog.blogspot.com/2012/08/10-okay-11-good-books-for-getting-better.html

• 5 Must-Reads for Graduates (and everyoneelse) http://pringlepracticeblog.blogspot.com/2013/05/five-must-reads-for-graduates-and.html

More Resources

The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right, by Atul Gawande

http://www.amazon.com/Checklist-Manifesto-How-Things-Right/dp/0312430000

Smarter Than You Think: How Technology is Changing Our Minds for the Better,by Clive Thompson

http://www.amazon.com/Smarter-Than-You-Think-Technology/dp/1594204454

Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, by Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D

http://www.amazon.com/Mindset-Psychology-Success-Carol-Dweck/dp/0345472322

Give and Take: Why Helping Others Drives Our Success, by Adam Grant

http://www.amazon.com/Give-Take-Helping-Others-Success/dp/0143124986

Resources - Tools

Basecamp https://basecamp.com/

Camtasia http://www.camtasiastudiosoftware.com/

Evernote www.evernote.com

Freedom www.macfreedom.com

LeechBlock http://www.proginosko.com/leechblock.html

Mindmeister www.mindmeister.com

Ommwriter www.ommwriter.com

TheForm Tool www.theformtool.com

WikiSpaces www.wikispaces.com

Resources- Websites

ABA Law Technology ResourceCenter http://www.americanbar.org/groups/departments_offices/legal_technology_resources.html

Attorney at Work http://www.attorneyatwork.com/

Clio http://www.goclio.com/

Law Office Guru http://legalofficeguru.com/

Law Practice Matters http://www.lawpracticematters.com/

Lawyerist http://lawyerist.com/

Legal Ease http://legalease.blogs.com/

Legal Productivity http://www.legalproductivity.com/

MyCase http://www.mycase.com/blog/

MyShingle http://myshingle.com/

Paperless Chase http://www.paperlesschase.com/

SC Bar PMAP http://www.scbar.org/MemberResources/PracticeManagementPMAP.aspx

Technolawyer http://www.technolawyer.com/