There are a lot of excuses by legal professionals and organizations for not innovating, including time, budget, concern over job security, etc.  But the oldest excuse for not innovating is the phrase we’ve all heard at some point: “that’s the way we’ve always done it”.  In a recent post by Doug Kaminski of Cobra Legal Solutions, he discusses the perfect response to that excuse – in terms of how it applies to contract management, but it could really be applied to any type of innovation.

Doug’s article That’s Not the Way We Do It Anymore starts by providing a nice history lesson about how the “nuts and bolts” of contract generation has evolved.  How far back do contracts and contract law go back?  Pretty darn far.  Let’s just say that the earliest contracts may have been written on papyrus, or stone tablets!

As the creation of contracts have evolved from typewriters to computers, transmission has evolved from hand delivery to fax to email and signatures have evolved from pen and paper to eSignature, I’m sure a few luddites along the way have uttered the oldest excuse for not innovating.

Now, just as the “nuts and bolts” of contract generation has evolved, so has the management of contracts throughout the lifecycle itself, leveraging technology and expertise along the way.  A lot of companies are still behind the curve on efficient management of contracts and I’m sure some of them have used the oldest excuse for not innovating here as well.

So, what’s the best response for the oldest excuse for not innovating?  I won’t steal Cobra Legal Solutions’ (and Doug’s) thunder, you can check out the article here on the specifics.  Hint: you won’t have to read very far!

So, what do you think?  How have you addressed the oldest excuse for not innovating in your organization?  Please share any comments you might have or if you’d like to know more about a particular topic.

Disclosure: Cobra Legal Solutions is an Educational Partner and sponsor of eDiscovery Today

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