Listen first. Flex fast. That was the big message delivered by Michelle Williams (Ogier) at Novicell’s ‘Business Online’. Five weeks into her new role at Ogier, and after a decade leading brand and digital at Bird & Bird, Michelle argued that big change doesn’t fail on the plan; it fails in the people. 

Michelle set the scene by getting listeners to picture the scenario where you’re three months from launching a major website rebuild and brand refresh. A new senior stakeholder joins, takes one look at the work, and strongly disagrees with key parts of the strategy, identity and rollout. With time as a constraint, what do you do? Michelle circled back to how she handled exactly this at the end.

Why transformations wobble (especially in law firms):

• Structural complexity: lots of committees, lots of voices, lots of gates.
• Socio-political complexity: markets, languages and cultures pulling in different directions on tone, claims and style.
• Emerging complexity: leadership changes, budget shift, new tech (AI), competitive moves. Plans get rerouted mid-flight.

Most “failures” trace back to one of three patterns: a bold top-down push that splits the room, a “delivered” project that leaves scorched earth behind the PM, or a design-by-committee that sands all the edges off. The antidote? Listening that creates ownership, not the tick-box kind, the real kind.

How Michelle listens
There are two loops. First, discovery: go wide, learn what different groups value, and map the landmines early. Second, test + retest: keep returning to those groups as you shape so the work meets their definition of success. Bonus: if you’re a technical lead with limited internal reach, a serious listening programme builds your social capital fast.

Michelle also flagged research she leans on: leaders struggle most with the socio-political side of change, and successful programmes correlate with people feeling their emotions were acknowledged. Translation: Being genuinely heard turns stakeholders into co-owners.

Flexibility in practice
When discussing the rebranding and website project undertaken at Bird & Bird, Michelle shared that the only firm-wide consensus was “be client-centric.” On everything else, colour, photography, tone, and even how teams wanted to work, the views were poles apart. A one-size-fits-all rollout would have alienated half the firm. So the team asked for more time and budget and engineered flex in these key areas:

Tech: more granular permissions and controls to suit both lean local teams and sophisticated central teams.

Voice: the ability to dial up or down elements of tone by market (e.g., bolder in the US, more restrained in parts of Europe).

The result was that people felt seen, and the work stuck.

Sponsorship and message-market fit
On a global rollout of Passle, Michelle mapped senior stakeholders and built a messaging matrix: what the board cares about (profitability, headcount), what sectors care about (speed to market), what country teams need (less busywork, more strategic time). By the time training landed, the narrative had already been cascaded and localised with momentum baked in.

Removing process blockers
Expect friction. Treat competing views as legitimately held, play back what you heard, and anchor discussions in the shared goal. When dev/design deadlocks appear, be the translator: “Are we solving the right problem for the client?” That reframing often unblocks weeks of “perfect” workarounds.

The LIFT framework

L — Listen & Learn: find the landmines early; don’t do performative listening, actually listen.

I — Include & Inspire: diverse voices + a clear, repeated vision = durable buy-in.

F — Flex: adjust plans as reality shifts, or you’ll ship something the firm won’t own.

T — Translate: be agnostic and bridge worlds: dev, brand, lawyers and agency.

Be like a beaver 

Get the balance right: Strong beams for structure, flexible reeds for give. This creates enough structure to hold, enough flexibility to adapt. Too much of either, and the work won’t stick.

Back to the 11th-hour stakeholder
In Michelle's case, she listened to the stakeholder. The newcomer had deep brand experience, so the team went back to the board, secured time and budget, and incorporated the feedback. Although it was painful in the moment, it led to a better brand and digital experience in the end.

My key takeaway from Michelle's session is that if you want transformation to stick, earn ownership through listening and design flex into the system. That’s how you survive complexity and come out with something people are proud to use.