For those of you who may not be familiar with the work of David
Maister, I implore you to introduce yourself to his thinking by taking
a look at his latest book, First
Among Equals.  David is, simply put, a High Priest in the
dark art of managing Type A professionals.

For those who know David’s work and those who don’t, I happened across
a two-year-old article of his, "Whither
the Global Law Firm?", which
proves the trenchancy and staying power of his analysis.  Pulling
no punches, David writes that he has "always been skeptical" about the
ability of firms to effectively go global, given that "most law firms
are still in kindergarten when it comes to management."  [Don’t
say I didn’t warn you.]

What’s the problem with global firms?  Among other things, conflicts:  When
London tells Frankfurt it has to turn down a lucrative client, and then
penalizes Frankfurt at year-end for missing its numbers, "that’s when
the cannons and nuclear bombs come out."  Nevertheless, more
firms than the market will be able to bear are all seeking to be among
the select few:  Among other things, it’s easier and sexier to do
a high-profile M&A deal or steal a celebrity practice group than it is
to coach know-it-all professionals on the long-run virtue of truly exceptional,
and selfless, client service.

Pop quiz:  Maister asked a convention of F500 GC’s how many of
their outside law firms had ever volunteered to sit in periodically with
senior in-house lawyers to get to learn their business better and to
find out what kept them awake at night.  The number who had was…..?

0.