We all to think we are ‘special’ and bring high value to our jobs. However, the past two years have made pretty much everyone (except maybe the Chinese) nervous about their prospects. Even lawyers are thinking about the possibility that they are not as ‘special’ as they once thought. In the words of one colleague, “The Guild has been broken.”
A recent NY Times article on this issue helped bring my thoughts into focus on this topic, especially since my dang economics background keeps creeping into my brain. The article uses an admin worker in Florida to demonstrate how some US jobs are now obsolete. In a recent conversation with Greg, I had made a an eerily similar comment about how the Great Reset has accelerated the globalization trend of moving US jobs to cheaper labor sources, be they computers or foreign laborers.
The subject of the article states: “I know I’m good at this. So how the hell did I end up here?” This is one counter example, where “good enough” is no longer good enough or more specifically, no longer cost effective. Although this worker “can anticipate people’s needs” technology has allowed people to anticipate their own needs – and do it better, faster, cheaper.
Adding 2 and 2 together – the legal profession is sailing in to the perfect storm of obsolescence. At the same time of accelerating change and a powerful recession – the guild has been broken. With the profession’s tendency to lean on precedence for decision making, we are in for one seriously rough ride.
My advice: The people who figure out to make themselves obsolete will be the winners. Think on that one for a while.