The Wright Firm's Weblog

Does Your Reputation Equal Currency?

 I have been fascinated by the idea that your reputation equals a form of currency.  In a news article in January, the reporter indicated that Justin Bieber was more influential online than the Dalai Lama or the U.S. President. Really!  My eight year old child would say Justine Bieber sings like a girl; but more influential than the Dalai Lama?  Now that says something.  As a lawyer we have always known the value of our reputations.  Open an office, do good work, and over time the people would show up at your door.  The game has changed.  Now, your reputation can be seen everyday of every second of every minute of the day on social media sites, blog reviews, and attorney review sites like Avvo.com. 

Have you viewed the twitter stream in real time to see if tweets mention you or maybe your competitors?  Have you hired someone to manage your reputation?  Do you care about any of this?  The management of your reputation is now of critical importance.  Social media site Klout at Klout.com,  based on Twitter, claims it can tell you who the most influential company or individual  you should be listening to in cyberspace based on tweets, pings, and hits. So, what do you think? Does your reputation really equal a form of currency? Let me know your thoughts?  

 

Focus

FOCUS ANYONE?

 

When you run a business, specifically a law firm, you expect focus to detail.  Get the small stuff right the rest will follow as some say.  Maybe it was the first day of a new year, too much fun on New Years Eve, or just the fact of returning to the office after a break. However, yesterday, while sitting in court, I looked down at a letter that we had sent to opposing counsel and there in the subject line was the listing for the wrong court.   Oh, I’m ok, I had sent another notice letter out but it still bugged me.  I had just about forgotten the letter, when I received a motion from a co-counsel of mine from another firm. Reading over the document, I noticed it listed the right court but the wrong county.  Was something in the water?  Birds were dropping from the sky in places. 

In Why We Make Mistakes, Joseph T. Hallinan explains the science of human error and accounts for mistakes such as these.  He discovers that some of the same qualities that make us efficient also make us error prone.  We learn to move rapidly through the world, quickly recognize patterns but overlook details.  He also explains that Organizations that understand that people will make mistakes and then do something to manage and minimize those mistakes are more likely to succeed.   Are you managing your mistakes???