There is a second problem with top down, firm wide strategic planning. If a central group (however formed) develops a vision of how to compete, then, as noted above, there remains the task of “persuading” the rest of the partnership to implement the prescribed course of action. It is on this rock that most professional firm strategic initiatives falter. Partners, as we all know, value their autonomy and resist hierarchical direction. They cannot be “instructed” to practice differently; they can, at best, be convinced. However, presenting the final conclusions of a strategy developed by others is not a particularly persuasive tactic for obtaining “buy-in.”

Excerpted from ‘Managing the Professional Service Firm’ by David Maister, pages 226 to 227