Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/34417
the anticipated results, cost substantially more than expected and had, in some cases, a polarizing effect on employees. Furthermore, since none of the lawyers in the pilot group had a formal background in project management or Lean Six Sigma, the notion that they could gain an edge in service delivery from an approach to improving manufacturing efficiency seemed somewhat incredible. A TEAMBUILDING DIALOGUE From a knowledge management perspective, the pilot was also an opportunity to bring together a cross section of partners and associates who did not frequently work together on project teams. For years, the mergers and acquisitions practice met regularly to share best practices and innovative deal strategies, introduce new resources, discuss new and pending transactions, review work on forms and templates and find ways of capturing deal experience. Despite the wealth of knowledge being shared in this forum, following the firm’s own mergers in 2008, the economy had presented fewer opportunities for partners from different backgrounds and with different types of clients to collaborate on large, complex transactions. With Lean Six Sigma as the guiding framework, the pilot became a structured opportunity to openly discuss a wide range of transactional experience and desired best practices in deal management. Since lawyers had to account for such a large number of variables in any of their typical deals, the team created a model transaction for discussion that represented the standard set of anticipated variables in an acquisition. For the associates in particular, the pilot was an excellent exposure to the entire deal process, compared to their more typical 42 Knowledge Management ILTA White Paper targeted experience with areas like due diligence. Of special significance were the insights into client values and the rationale supporting the logical design of transaction documentation. AN ITERATIVE FORMAT Over the course of seven months, the pilot group met for 90 minutes every other week using the firm’s video- conferencing system. The agenda for each session often included discussions of Lean Six Sigma concepts or techniques, practice exercises or simulations based upon materials developed in-house, and time to apply the method to either the transaction’s process or documentation. In between meetings, lawyers read a series of articles and books from the trade press, listened to downloads from iTunes U or continued to work on assignments in preparation for the next session. Even though client demands always took precedence, this iterative format proved effective in providing this team of highly capable and busy professionals ongoing opportunities for dialogue, learning and practice as they managed competing demands for their time. OBSERVING THE INVISIBLE As a non-lawyer guiding the introduction of Lean Six Sigma to the team, I had the opportunity during these meetings to listen to the dialogue and observe how lawyers overcame the challenges of adapting Lean Six Sigma to their corporate practice. The pilot was also an opportunity to observe the differences between approaching knowledge management from a Lean Six Sigma perspective and the more conventional one found in most law firms today. Of the many lessons learned during our meetings, the few that follow illustrate both how different and