Hi

The time seems to be flying. With things continuing to change fast around the world (with lockdowns in many countries), I hope you and your loved ones are keeping well.

Separately, I know this is an important week for those in the US as the country votes in the presidential election. Stay safe.

Here are 4 things that were worth sharing.

THINK

I recently submitted an article looking at innovation drivers worldwide, focusing specifically on the UK, Africa, and APAC. I can't share the article (yet), but in writing it, I was fortunate to speak with several innovation leaders globally, and I thought I would share two insightful quotes.

First is a short extract from my chat with Cathy Truter, Head of Knowledge Management at African firm Bowman. To provide context, we were discussing the prevalence of technology within an African firm, and here is some insight into how the firm wants practitioners to be competent in law AND technology use:

Our approach has been, we want to future proof our lawyers, and we want to future proof our firm. So though some [firms] have decided to have pockets of people that do certain things, so for instance, they'll get an AI tool, and then they'll train up a group of people to use that AI tool. And if an AI [tool] is needed, those people will be brought in. We haven't taken that approach. 

We've taken the approach that every single person in the firm needs to know how to use these technologies. You need to understand them, you need to grapple with them, and ultimately you need to become the Superman with Batman. It's no use some people knowing how to use this and other people knowing the law - the superpower is to have both together. 

Second is this extract from my discussion with Komal Gupta, Head of Artificial Intelligence & Innovation at Indian firm Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas (CAM). CAM is undoubtedly an early mover and leader in the Indian legal market. They recently announced the second cohort of their Tech Incubator - Prarambh. I wanted to explore the reasoning behind the incubator (the first of its kind in the country):

So CAM, with Prarambh, has a very wide vision. That vision is not limited to what are the benefits for CAM. That vision is how can we transform the legal industry? How can we give back to the legal industry? How can we encourage and support domestic talent? And that is why Prarambh came into existence. 

I have some understanding of transformation & innovation from India, South Africa, and Australia. I would love to hear stories/thoughts from the rest of the world.

Hit reply, and let me know if you'd like to chat.

READ

The current pandemic has resulted in unexpected projects. Those who have gathered together to create, educate, and otherwise seize the opportunities available. One example of this is the new book #Networked - which was released just this week.

Here's a description of the book from the back cover:

#Networked is the much anticipated twenty-chapter anthology written by twenty women lawyers who met through a networking group on Linkedin in the early days of the COVID pandemic.

Each chapter in #Networked is written by one woman describing both her individual experience, and collective experience and role within the group. The women's stories touch upon many of universal themes of the human condition: The human will, love, virtue, societal tensions.

Make no mistake, not all themes in #Networked transcend time, this is a modern anthology. The protagonists are all very much entrenched in 2020 with plenty of emphasis given to careers, work-life balance, and the best lighting for virtual calls. The multi-dimensional characters also dig deep conquering topics such as infertility, addiction, allyship, feminism, and mental health. Their stories are also the stories of thousands of other professional women.

My Kindle app tells me that I'm 60% of the way through :). What I've enjoyed is that each chapter is free-standing, so you can jump-in-and-out as needed, but every one of them is narrative driven. Each has offered at least one learning to me.

IMPORTANT: This is not a sponsored post or an affiliate link - I just like sharing good material.

Check out #Networked on Amazon

WATCH

Vol. 2 of Chatter returns this Friday. I speak with my friend and font of interesting knowledge, Vincent Michetti. If you missed the first session, we talk about a handful of topics that are top of mind for us - they could be current affairs, exciting tech, inspiring stories.

Join us live on Friday at 11 am Chicago, 5 pm UK. Or catch the recording next week.

FUN

Often the production of quality output is mistaken by many to assume that the creative process must be simple. This applies to pretty much every disciple from law to sports and food science.

If you're like me, you might be intrigued by how some things are made/created. One such example is food & drink commercials; though I didn't think they were simple, I had no idea of how much was involved and the level of foresight and experimentation needed.

The video linked below walks through making the commercial for a summer drink, that on the face seems simple, but actually requires a robotic rig and much more to create!

Watch 'How robots made this food commercial look effortless' (9 mins)

Keep well.

Ab

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