The digital tech revolution has created a tsunami of amazing opportunities.
The trick is to (1) discover the best ones, and then (2) leverage them.
Lawyers have historically been slow to discover the best ones.
The Ted Nicholas example is one early case study. His million dollar opportunity is easy to understand now.
Ted Nicholas had to work harder exploiting his idea back in the 1990s than he would now.
More recently LegalZoom took Ted’s same idea and adapted it to the online world.
They scaled up faster, and made even more money.
Exploiting low-level opportunities at scale (like LegalZoom did) is hard because it requires massive tech know how.
Most lawyers don’t have that kind of tech skill.
But that doesn’t mean there aren’t a slew of OTHER great opportunities.
But here’s the important thing you need to understand…
Money Booths
Leveraging the many opportunities made available by technology is like being in one of those money booths you see at arcades.
You know, where you’re trapped inside a small space with a bunch of bills swirling around you,
Most of the bills are $1 bills. But there are a few twenties.
And maybe even a hundred dollar bill.
Obviously it’s easier to grab a single hundred dollar bill (assuming you can spot it) than trying to grab a hundred dollar’s worth of one dollar bills.
Obviously, right?
The money booth is a great metaphor for the kind of swirling opportunities that digital technology has enabled.
Except that all the digital tech opportunities are completely invisible.
So they’re even harder to see than the dollar bills in a money booth.
And harder to grab hold of (i.e. leverage).
To exploit these valuable (but hidden and elusive) opportunities we need to think differently than we are currently thinking.
Leverage Insight
The best thing you can do now is to work on developing uncommon insight.
Most lawyers waste valuable time processing information, instead of trying to gain insight.
Insight is more valuable than information.
WAY more valuable.
The Future is Here Now
Science fiction writer William Gibson famously observed about our modern world…
“The future is already here. It’s just not very evenly distributed.”
By which, Gibson meant…
The ”amazing futuristic stuff“ made possible by digital technology isn’t being discovered by everyone simulateously.
And maybe it’s best discover the best new opportunities as soon as possible.
It’s a LOT easier to exploit those opportunities if you act sooner rather than later.
General Resources
- Check out my Inner Circle (to participate in ongoing discussions about tech tools I discuss and recommend)
- Check out this Law-Tech Assessment if you want specific recommendations for improving based on the technology you’re using in your practice
- Click for a list of the Best Tech Tools for Lawyers
- Subscribe to: The 80/20 Principle newsletter (it’s free)
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