Invest in intellect….

“Obsolescence never meant the end of anything, it’s just the beginning.”
Marshall McLuhan*

We live in a world of built-in obsolescence.

Technology companies make a virtue of it, having version 2.0 ready (conceptually at least) when the release version 1.0 on the market.  Apple, the past masters, retain market leader status by releasing timely improvements at short but regular intervals.

We no longer live in a world where, materially at least, we wait for things to “break” or “stop working” but instead are encouraged to upgrade to the next big thing.

When looking at the professional services industry, firms recruit those with proven and particular skills to service an immediate market need.

But, what to do when that market changes?  Post Lehman Brothers collpase, we have seen  firms shed highly skilled resource that the market is not currently seeking.

The problem is two-fold:

1. Lawyers become narrower in scope (but deeper in domain specialism) the more qualified they are; and
2. Firms have a short term view to buy specialism rather than adaptable intellect.

But obsolescence is never discussed and never addressed.  Fear of personal obsolescence prevents lawyers raising the issue and as a result of which, firms respond to market need by buying ready made resource and ridding itself of then obsolete resource, at great expense.

Paying a premium at “signing up”, and sizeable compensation at “shipping out”, is expensive yes, but also jettisoning proven individuals, of good intellectual capacity, and the investment in whom – in terms of firm values or client relationships, is all lost.

Could there be amother way? Could firms recruit those of the right intellect and right values as long term prospects, with both firm and lawyers accepting that certain skills may and will become obsolescent but that the intellect and values will not, and that the cost of on-boarding and off-boarding resource be better applied to reskilling the resource.