I’ve always written under the assumption that people were reading what I put out here and, hopefully, learning something. In the age of AI-slop, I want more of that, and only that. I’m seeking it out and connecting with it. I am not connecting with people who are creating crap content in a chase for attention. Bring your authentic self, or I’m ready to assume your account is AI slop.
Tom O’Connor was kind enough to ask me to record an interview with him to answer some questions and provide direction on M365 and recent developments that impact eDiscovery professionals.
When we refer to women as “DEI hires,” what we are really saying is that we aren’t secure enough in our own accomplishments to let someone else shine. I imagine Carl would be embarrassed of us. I suppose the idea that we must diminish any woman’s achievements would be utterly unacceptable to the man who spent 60 years married to one of the most famous women in the world without ever feeling the need to grab the spotlight for himself.
We need examples like that. Carl Dean was one.
RIP
The M365 newsletter is a year old, and while it’s not been a huge commercial success, it’s been fun to do, and it’s brought some value to folks, whether they are paid or free subscribers. The big thing I wanted to mention is how being a subscriber and referring your peers could help get you a limited paid subscription for free:
When I look back on those years, it breaks my heart to know that half (probably much more!) of the people in our industry exist as some version of me in my teens and twenties because they don’t feel safe. On a very personal level, it makes me cry for all the pain and hurt out there that I wish others didn’t have to know so well. On a professional level, it hurts all of us. How much better equipped could we be for technology changes and the challenges of working in the legal industry if there weren’t so many women and men who felt the need to hide to feel safe? How much more successful could your organization be if all of these folks felt safe enough to stop hiding their talents and ideas? Leaders, what are you doing to ensure that everyone feels safe? Are you telling them how to hide themselves better, or are you creating a space where they don’t need to?
It matters to the bottom line, it matters in terms of career development, and it matters personally to far too many people who have their own stories to tell about their own experiences in and around our industry. Listen to them. Let it hurt you to hear their stories. Let it be heavy for you to learn the truth. Let that hurt turn into a determination to put an end to it.
So after 12 years, I’m back, but it’s very different. Because 12 years is a long time and things change fast around here. This opportunity only came about because I’ve been changing and now have something different to offer, that matches up with how the firm has been changing. I could have resisted learning all these new things over the years, but that would have also limited what I could do going forward. I’m really happy I didn’t do that. It might be the best career move I’ve ever made.