mr. reader - my favorite app for professional development
Today's post is part of a series appearing most Tuesdays Wednesdays about an application we think every lawyer should have in her toolbox.
The single most-used app on my iPad is Mr. Reader. It's a RSS feed reader app that synchronizes with my Google Reader account, creating a beautiful and functional format for perusing the 100s of articles that fill my feed daily.
[Beautiful because it just is. Functional because from Mr. Reader, I can not only read an article, but save it, tag it, send it to Evernote or Pocket or Twitter or Facebook. In other words, I can capture the information in exactly the format that best suits my purpose.]
If you don't know what a RSS feed is, or why you should care, or why you should use a RSS Reader, then see the endnote below.
I'm sharing Mr. Reader because it's a beautiful, functional app that contributes daily to my professional development. For these reasons alone, I think it's worth sharing.
However, while working on today's post, a common theme emerged in my RSS and Twitter feeds. More and more prognosticators on the future of the practice of law are opining on how we lawyers should pay attention to the methods and tools other industries employ to thrive and survive.
The message: learn from those outside the legal profession to innovate and create.
I couldn't agree more. Most of the blogs and websites I follow have nothing to do with the practice of law. They have everything to do with how to innovate. How to create meaningful work in a meaningful way. How to thrive professionally, and not just survive. How to take risks. Learn from your mistakes. Do great work in new ways.
This is stuff I need to know. It's what makes me better at all that I do. It's not what most lawyers think about. Which is part of the problem our profession faces.
So, I introduce Mr. Reader and suggest that you investigate some of the rich resources out there - not intended for lawyers, not written by lawyers, but offering inspiration for how to be better at what we lawyers want to do: provide exceptional legal counsel to clients.
Some of my favorite sources for great ideas (in no particular order):
My observation: articles and posts (and books) written by lawyers are all grounded in how the legal marketplace has functioned since the 1980s or so. Things are changing. Fast.
Just a suggestion - but a clear route to embracing creating change? Look to those who do it successfully. Every day. Lawyers? Not on the cutting edge. No where near the edge, in fact.
[And, honestly, most blogs written by lawyers are not fun to read. Because they are written by lawyers who have had legal writing beaten into them and creativity beaten out them. And all of this beating shows.]
Start with the links above. Explore. And if you find some great resources, please share them with me - [email protected].
Endnote:
RSS stands for "really simple syndication." It's a format for delivering constantly-changing web content. Websites that regularly publish new content (such as blogs) use RSS to push content out to readers.
You can capture RSS feeds from websites via a feed reader, which transforms the content into readable format. I use Google Reader, but there are many options.
Capturing content from websites via a RSS reader allows you to curate the parts of the web that are most meaningful to you. Essentially, you create your own digital newspaper or magazine, filled with exactly what you want to read.
RSS feeds and readers? Near #1 on my top 10 list of favorite tech.
