Going Outside Your Comfort Zone Is Becoming the New Normal

As usual I'm drinking my own Kool-Aid

In an age of AI, we are all going to have to get used to learning new things and going outside our comfort zone. The sooner you embrace the new normal, the sooner you reduce your “AI-nxiety.”

Hey there, I’m Zach Abramowitz, and I’m Legally Disrupted.

You might have thought today’s post would be about my takeaways from the Legalweek conference in NYC or the much awaited sequel to my post about Harvey. It is neither, although you’re right — both the posts are in process, so stay on the lookout and subscribe if you haven’t already. But, today’s newsletter is about creating a roadmap for how to adapt personally and professionally in a world that is quickly becoming more AI native. TLDR: become a better human.

I’m in Chicago today at Evolutions, a conference put on by Podcast Movement. I’m here to promote the launch of Targeted, a brand new story-style podcast I recorded earlier this year and which is produced by Next Chapter Podcasts. It’s not about lawyers (although we interviewed a few) it’s not about AI (although AI comes up) and, at first glance, it might not be clear how this podcast fits into our other work at Killer Whale Strategies.

I’ll get into the topic of Targeted in a future installment but, today, I want to explain how this fits in with a Killer Whale strategy and why I believe that constantly going just outside of your comfort zone is going to become the new normal, especially in light of the meteoric rise of AI.

I discussed this recently in a LinkedIn post, but every year, I try to take on one project that forces me out of my comfort zone. I try to choose a project that will also improve the services we offer our clients. So how does a highly produced podcast help our clients?

KWS helps companies of all different shapes and sizes capitalize on disruptive trends impacting the legal industry. Our work sits at the intersection of intel, strategy and storytelling. We help clients make sense of emerging trends — like AI — and translate those learnings into strategy, which almost always requires some degree of change. But change doesn’t stick unless you can explain it easily and that’s where storytelling comes in. And I believe this is what truly sets us apart when it comes to advising firms and top executives on AI: informed, strategic storytelling.

Informed, strategic storytelling has been a huge part of our business. Over the past few years, we have produced 75+ webinars, nearly 50 podcast episodes, highly produced video case studies, short documentaries and one super cringey music video (not to mention speaking gigs and newsletters). This latest project — a beautifully produced, narrative-driven — pushed me in new directions, and I loved it. The truth is I always enjoy acquiring new experience, especially when it’s uncomfortable initially. I think most humans do.

We’ve gotten so used to the “stay in your lane” ethos, but perhaps we are entering — or reentering — a new phase. There was a time when humans aspired to be multifaceted and dynamic. Leonardo da Vinci famously wrote a letter to the Duke of Milan seeking patronage and employment. In his letter, he had led with military engineering, siegecraft, bridge design. Painting was almost an afterthought. Today, that kind of range feels almost alien. We live in an age that rewards specialization — or at least the appearance of it. You're a litigator. You're a corporate associate. You're an AI startup founder. You're a marketing expert.

But maybe we’re swinging back. Maybe AI is pushing us toward a new kind of Renaissance thinking. Not just mastering a narrow task, but navigating between fields, combining disciplines, pulling insights from everywhere. And maybe humans, with the help of AI can now more easily teach themselves new stuff. One of my favorite use cases I like to share is how I used ChatGPT and my phone camera to fix a boiler in an Airbnb in London.

Because in this new environment, the real advantage won’t come from staying in your lane. It’ll come from adaptability — the willingness to take risks, explore new territory, and rethink your methods entirely.

That’s part of the reason why I named our company Killer Whale Strategies. The spirit animal of the lawyer is clearly the shark, but the lawyers of the future will use killer whale strategies. Killer Whales don’t just repeat what works — they actively experiment. They are constantly iterating. Killer Whales have been seen beaching themselves to snatch seals off the sand, then wriggling back into the water. It’s dangerous. It’s uncomfortable. But it works. And once one whale figures it out, the rest of the pod learns too. Sharks hope things stay the same, Killer Whales evolve.

To be clear, the new thing you learn doesn’t need to be AI. But AI can uniquely help you lean new things. Doing both will make you a better human. And whatever you do, make sure to stay disrupted — LEGALLY DISRUPTED.