Divergent Thinking, Collaboration and Creativity

From Alan:

Several posts ago, I talked about The Empathetic Response and how it might be beneficial for lawyers to understand connecting with jurors on that level.

Here, I want to share a spectacular talk by Kenneth Robinson on Divergent Thinking, Collaboration and Creativity. RSA, a wonderful company that creates animated shorts bringing ideas to life, has made this amazing clip.

Several points are important for attorneys to understand. First of all: The Delivery. When discussing graphics and supportive material to bring a case to life, most lawyers rely on language….charts, graphs, excerpts from transcripts and occasionally photos or videos. While watching this clip see how the non-verbal, purely visual story totally supports the verbal narrative unfolding during the clip. While this actual technique might be too expensive for most attorneys, the idea of it is what you should take away. How do you best create a non-verbal, elegant unfolding of your story.

Secondly, the message of the clip is so important to understand. Especially for folks in solo practice, or in firms that do not encourage and support true collaboration, learn from this how essential it is to find the synergy in collaboration. I know this might be an overused word, which has gone out of style, but the effect is very powerful. It is not necessary to do it all alone. In fact, it is often, almost always, to work with others. Something that our educational system and law school does not encourage.

Finally, learn the value of divergent thinking. This is sometimes termed, “outside the box” thinking. And it is often beaten out of us during our schooling.

This clip was inspirational to me and I hope you will find it so, as well.

TIP: Allow yourself to think of your case in new ways. Seek out collaborators who think and approach things differently from you. And finally, explore the possibilities of non-verbal visuals.

AB Speaks