Editor's letter: Identifying 'unknown unknowns' through intuition

"There are known knowns; there are things we know that we know.
There are known unknowns; that is to say, there are things that we
now know we don't know. But there are also unknown unknowns; there
are things we do not know we don't know" - Donald Rumsfeld, the then United States secretary of defence.

How in touch are you with what is going on around you at work? Often something is brewing in the background which you may not be fully aware of but a part of you senses. Maybe you've picked up on tension in your top rainmaker whenever you've talked with him lately about his practice. Or perhaps you're in the middle of very successful merger negotiations but haven't been able to sleep through the night for the past few days. Your intuition is telling you something, but are you listening?

Many lawyers take what is generally called 'gut instinct' with a pinch of salt at best - facts take precedence in decision making. When performing client work, this approach is clearly important to avoid a range of issues should hunches backfire. But, when it comes to managing a law firm, not all decisions can or should be made based on hard facts alone. Sometimes you need
to trust your deeper knowledge of people and situations to uncover the unknown unknowns.

Of course, your reactions in challenging situations aren't always based on your intuition - sometimes they are affected by bad experiences. But, your subconscious may also have picked up on subtle clues to a person's true feelings or intentions because of those experiences. You may have instinctively realised that your top rainmaker is about to accept an offer from a competing firm. Or you may have sensed that your prospective merger partner does not value professional ethics as highly as you do, meaning liability issues could arise post-merger.

The key is to stop and reflect upon what is going on beneath the surface and to use it to identify the unknown unknowns that may challenge your firm's immediate future, make them known unknowns and then, after a thorough
fact-finding investigation, record the known knowns. Armed with that information, you will then be able to take pre-emptive action to defend your firm before any lasting damage is done. Isn't that worth getting in touch with your softer side for?

Until next time,