The conservative, defensive, reactive approach of most legal departments is out of date and needs to evolve quickly. Part of the problem is how legal departments view themselves. Their mindset (to borrow from psychologist Carol Dweck) is a barrier to realizing their full potential. 

Which of these best describes the mindset of your legal department?

• Gatekeepers. These teams view themselves as risk managers who own only those specific portions of client issues that relate to risk mitigation and avoidance. Value is measured by avoidance, i.e., bad things that could have occurred but did not, an elusive concept. 
• Executers. Teams with this mindset seek to provide quality services as efficiently as possible, but think of themselves as a cost center, a necessary burden on the enterprise. Value is measured by cost management and efficiency.
• Accelerators. These teams believe they can help create competitive advantage for their business and have a true "seat at the table." They do not simply solve the problems that their internal clients bring them – they anticipate and push. They do not just try to run more efficiently – they innovate and experiment to propel the enterprise forward. To them, value is measured by impact inside and outside the business.

I believe most legal teams still operate as Gatekeepers or Executers. Too few have the Accelerator mindset. Moreover, it is unlikely that the business will demand or even encourage an Accelerator mindset, not out of bad judgment, but from the inertia of what they have been taught to expect from traditional legal organizations.

The Accelerator mindset constantly refines the way the team works to improve efficiency, impact, and reach...

Those who want to adopt a progressive, innovation-focused approach need to take on an Accelerator mindset. So, how to get there?

Shape the right team and culture

Take any group of smart corporate lawyers and you will find important qualities well-represented: intelligence, motivation, attention to detail. Other talents might be harder to find: innovation, risk-taking, fault-tolerance. General counsels should articulate non-conventional “musts” for the team and consider bringing in new contributors from non-traditional legal backgrounds.

Set clear goals

Growth and evolution is impossible without goal-setting and measurement. This starts by setting goals that express your new mindset. Can you automate company processes and save $1M? Can you drive direct customer engagement? Can you contribute meaningfully to the cross-functional teams that drive company strategy and execution? 

Define and track the right metrics

This is hard work and may be particularly uncomfortable for many legal departments, where annual goals are framed as “support the business in abc,” and “partner with the business to xyz,” and thus become self-fulfilling prophecies by definition. Recent research suggests that as up to 25% of legal departments do not use metrics at all, and the majority of “enlightened” departments still have no quality based metrics.

Make your clients your teammates

How successful would a business be if it simply waited for customers to walk in? Yet that is how many legal departments operate. True engagement is key to achieving the Accelerator mindset. Meet regularly with your stakeholders on their turf and their terms, understand their context, and try to identify ways you can drive their agendas with your resources. Adapt processes to fit them, rather than expect them to change how they work to accommodate you. 

Adopting an Accelerator mindset means stepping outside of your comfort zone, embracing risk, and taking on massive new challenges...

Manage your value chain

The Accelerator mindset constantly refines the way the team works to improve efficiency, impact, and reach. This means deciding what you create yourself, what you outsource, and how you bring everything together to deliver your value. Other parts of your company are continuously evolving how they deliver value. Work to create a strong connection between cost and value, and be willing to change the “who, where, when, why, and how” of your value chain. 

Get started now

Running like a business does not mean abdicating or ignoring the essential risk management role that every legal team must own (in fact, it improves those results too as I will share in a future post). Adopting an Accelerator mindset means stepping outside of your comfort zone, embracing risk, and taking on massive new challenges. It also means maximizing the value and power of your team. The time to start is now!

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[As senior vice president, general counsel, chief compliance counsel, and secretary for NetApp, Matthew Fawcett is responsible for all legal affairs worldwide, including corporate governance and securities law compliance, intellectual property matters, contracts, and mergers and acquisitions. He has overseen the development of NetApp Legal into a global high-performance organization with a unique commitment to innovation and transformation.]