Google Browser Signals End of “Mandated” Operating System

Google is set to release on Wednesday a first public “beta” of a web browser that at first glance appears to join a suddenly crowded web browser marketplace.  After reading its “comic” explaining the idea behind the browser, it becomes apparent that Google isn’t just trying to enter the web browser market – it is trying to transform the web browser into a vehicle for stable, web-based application delivery.

As explained in the comic, traditional browsers can crash pretty easily when delivering web applications.  This is due to the framework of the web browser.  It was initially developed to do small tasks such as render text and graphics quickly.  As browsers grew, they added tools for email and calendaring that were fine for individuals, but added bulk and instability for those who wanted to use browsers to push internal applications.

Google has responded by placing each tab of the browser in its own process (ie, each tab is like opening a new instance of the browser) so that if one tab becomes unstable, it doesn’t affect the other tabs.  This also prevents a script that is slowing down the rendering of a page to affect the other tabs.

This comes with a cost – additional overhead (more RAM memory, better hardware).  But for business use, this can finally usher in the end of executable-based client server applications and push all business applications through your browser.  This will not only simplify administration of applications from an IT perspective, it gives freedom to end users to choose whatever operating system they want to use (which may end up increasing IT administration, so that may be a wash – IT isn’t going to be less of a need in the future in any event).

Perhaps this is what will challenge virtualization (something Microsoft envisions as it prepares for the end of Windows).

The above is merely scratching the surface of the new features of Google Chrome.  The browser will be open-source, meaning developers around the world will be free to see, use, and improve upon the source code (and create their own applications based on the technology without paying licensing fees).  It also tries to improve upon the user experience that takes advantage of Google’s omnipresence on the internet.   Read the comic by clicking here to see more of what Google envisions with its browser.

The bottom line is that computing as we know it will soon be a thing of the past.  New technologies that are in their infancy now will be in the forefront of your technology decisions soon.  Make sure your IT department is testing these technologies now so they can give you a better opinion on which to choose when the time comes.

UPDATE:  As if on cue:  ”Google believes any task done in a standalone desktop computer application can be delivered via the Web and Chrome is its bet that software applications can be run via a browser.”  Read more here.

Does Your Law Firm Have a “Level 5″ Leader?

In a recent entry posted to the Harvard Business Review’s Editor’s Blog, Diane Coutu wrote of a deceased Columbia University professor who she describes as a “Level 5 leader”:

“that rare person who can successfully combine drive, intelligence and humility to attract followers and to encourage them to perform to do the best of their abilities.”

Why is such a combination so rare?  From the standpoint of any practicing attorney, humility isn’t common.  Yet in the context of a leader, humility isn’t so much in how you practice but in how introspective you are.  Those who spend time congratulating themselves for their achievements are not preparing themselves for future success.  With this in mind, how can managing attorneys become level 5 leaders?

At first glance, most successful partners have two of the three characteristics off the bat.  Drive and intelligence are hallmarks of any successful lawyer.  Where the disconnect occurs is how they apply their drive and intellect.  Good lawyers use these qualities to represent their clients.  Good managers use these qualities to “attract followers and to encourage them to perform to do the best of their abilities”. 

To be an effective leader should require total dedication.  Yet for many firms, the managing attorney is also a leader in productivity.  I have talked to many managing attorneys who are also one of the highest producers in their firms.  To expect them to succeed both as managers and practicing law is not a recipe for success for at least one of their responsibilities.

For firms who can’t afford to have a partner dispense with their billable productivity while managing the firm, consider among other things the following ways to encourage positive results from your managing partner:

• Choose a managing partner who can develop consensus.  Many managing attorneys state that they spend as much time building consensus as they do all the other responsibilities of managing the firm combined.
• Choose a managing partner who has a vision of where they want the firm to go.  Managing partners must not only drive the vision, they must also develop and nurture it.
• If possible, don’t choose a managing partner from your top producers.  To be effective, the managing attorney will have to reduce their workload.  Taking a high producing attorney away from the field will have an immediate negative impact on the firm.  Attorneys aren’t the most patient of people and seeing a reduction in productivity isn’t the best way to support a new managing attorney.
• Encourage “upward reviews“.  Getting the best from others may hinge on keeping an open ear to their needs and concerns.  If there are grumbling associates that are either afraid or disinterested in sharing their concerns, they can be like a cancer that becomes hard to eradicate.
• Measure performance.  The way to judge how well a managing attorney is focusing their drive and intelligence to encourage those to perform to the best of their abilities is by setting standards and holding everyone, including the managing attorney, accountable for their results.

As noted in the first comment of the blog entry, “such leaders {don’t} focus on {themselves} too much, but on defining a vision, articulating it, and then actualizing it.”  I believe that these qualities aren’t as rare as Ms. Coutu suggests.  On the contrary, I believe most firms have people in their own firm who, with the right support and responsibilities, can develop into such a leader and can provide a great service to the firm.

The devil is in finding them.