Before she joined Analysis Group, the author worked at a small economic
consulting firm that—like most other firms in the industry—closely
tracked and measured the profitability of each office and each practice
area. That approach, she observed, created a lot of internal competition
and divisiveness. In addition, the compensation model was formula-based
and data-driven, largely determined by who was selling new business.
Analysis Group uses a much different model: It determines partners’
compensation without relying on formulas; it doesn’t obsess over false
precision about who sold what business; and pay isn’t strictly a
function of billable hours. Instead, extensive, informed discussion of
each person’s contributions to the firm leads to a decision about what
pay seems fair. For one thing, Samuelson writes, in a professional
services firm it’s not always clear who deserves credit for a specific
action. She is convinced that the firm’s unconventional model is one of
the reasons its culture is so strong. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]