The Blockers of Innovation – Risk Aversion, Inertia, Apathy and Ego

Innovation is the creation, development and implementation of a new process that improves efficiency and effectiveness. As important as it is, there are many natural cognitive biases that make innovation difficult to achieve. Perhaps nowhere is this more true than in the lateral hiring of top attorneys.
Here, we highlight some of the most common barriers to innovation.

Four Barriers to Innovation

1. Risk Aversion

Risk aversion is one of the primary reasons why managers avoid exploring new solutions to their issues. As described by The Decision Lab, risk aversion is a cognitive bias that can prevent people from making the best decisions. That is not to say that a firm/company should take on the maximum amount of risk. Still, researchers find that many decision-makers are not well-calibrated in their willingness to adopt innovative solutions.

2. Inertia

In physics, inertia is the resistance that a physical object has to change in its speed or direction. You may be surprised to learn that inertia exists in businesses and organizations as well. In a 2016 study, researchers observed that organizational inertia is a fundamental barrier to innovation in many industries.

3. Apathy

Innovation requires creativity. An innovator brings a new solution to an existing problem. Apathy—a simple lack of interest or enthusiasm—is a major obstacle to creativity. Eliminating apathy and putting a renewed focus on a problem can help spur organizations to find better answers.

4. Ego

Finally, ego can also be a significant blocker of innovation. When successful managers (or organizations) have always done something the same way it can be difficult to bring in new eyes and make changes.

Up or Out Brings Innovation to Lateral Hiring

Taken together, the common barriers to innovation go a long way towards explaining why there has been so little development in legal hiring over the past several decades. Our team is bringing true change to the industry. Up or Out is an exclusive direct introduction platform for Am Law attorneys, top-tier Law firms, and leading organizations.

Using our proprietary technology, we connect law firms, businesses, and non-profit organizations directly to the most gifted lawyers who are actively searching for their next opportunity.

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