Ensuring Innovation Is More Than Lip Service

There is a lot of talk about “innovation” or “disruption” especially when conversation turns to software. It’s no secret why everyone wants to be branded “innovative:” in a world of Moore’s Law, no one wants to be last year’s model. However, in the race to keep up, it’s easy to forget what innovation means. Inherent in the word is not just the idea of novelty, but also of utility and of commitment.

To claim to be “innovative,” companies and products must go beyond “new.” They must also:

1) Have Unique Ideas

Innovation is about more than just making incremental improvements; each advance should be part of a larger vision. It’s the difference between a marginal improvement, like slightly better fuel economy on your car, and a new way to approach the problem, like a Tesla Model S. That is not to say that all changes need to be rocket blasts; updates that begin as small, iterative improvements may result in a product that is more responsive to user needs. The distinction is that true innovation involves abstracting a problem or looking at it in a new light. In the ediscovery space, this can mean changing workflows or shaking up the EDRM model. Innovative legal products make an impact on the industry.

2) Make Useful Changes

Innovation should solve real, pervasive problems for end users. Releasing a succession of novel functions is not sufficient: they must also address pain points. For instance, if many law firms struggle with exhibits for teleconference depositions, then providing that service may be more useful that incrementally improving an existing product. As this chart demonstrates, good products improve the things done most often by the most users. When it comes to ediscovery, updates need to substantively improve the litigation process to be truly innovative.

3) Update Frequently

Innovation entails ongoing improvements, not maintenance of a stale product. Releasing an initial idea into an industry doesn’t remove the need for further progress. Leading the way on polaroids didn’t save Kodak from being left behind when digital photography exploded. In legal technology, this means that being a legacy tool does not – by itself – make you a market leader today. New technologies become available every day, and legal tools need to match this cadence of change, so lawyers can leverage the advances. Innovation doesn’t sleep.

There is one corollary to these definitions of innovation: transparency. It is always difficult to judge oneself fairly. Public scrutiny of all claims of innovation results in a more innovative industry, which means better outcomes for all.

In the interest of putting our money where our blog words are, we’ve summarized the past three and a half years of Everlaw product updates. The changes listed can be evaluated for uniqueness, and the dates can help gauge update frequency. Industry analysts and product users would be the best arbiters of the utility of these features. We’re looking forward to your feedback!