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Dream, Believe, Dare, Do 239

seemingly overnight fall of Arthur Andersen LLP, E & Y’s largest competitor.
So why change?
Professional service firms are known for putting their young recruits
and less senior people through “hell.” It’s just like pledging a fraternity or a
sorority; you take the hazing knowing that some day you’ll be able to dish it
out. David Maister has studied, taught, and written about professional service
firms for more than 20 years. When asked why professional service firms
don’t change, Maister replied, “Let me give you an analogy from my own life.
I am a fat smoker. I don’t need another speech to tell me that I should stop
smoking and lose weight. Clear lungs, longer life—I accept that it’s a fabulous
strategy. But please, no more speeches.” People in professional service firms,
as well as other businesses, have heard all the speeches before. They know the
importance of providing exceptional customer service, developing people,
being a team player, etc., etc. Maister advises that, “Whether it is giving up
smoking or giving great customer service, any kind of improvement requires
short-term sacrifice and short-term pain in the name of a better long-term
future. The problem in professional services is that because the environment
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is so bountiful, you can get everything wrong and still have a nice income.”
In reality, very few businesses are willing to endure short-term pain in hopes
of achieving long-term gain, especially when profits are solid.
As we stated in Chapter 7, Jim Turley and his team rolled out a “People
First” philosophy early in 2001. They were ready to endure pain to change the
century-old culture of Ernst & Young. The E & Y “People First” philosophy
is “to be the firm that contributes most to the success of its people and its
clients by creating value and confidence.”
As chairman and CEO, Jim Turley leads the organization’s commit-
ment to putting people first. This is accomplished by creating a supportive
culture; making people paramount in all decisions; providing development
opportunities for all employees; fostering an inclusive work environment; and
building strong and enduring relationships with its people. Jim realizes that
culture change is a two-way street. To make the change real at Ernst, each and
every employee must also set personal goals, take ownership of his or her own
careers, and live the firm’s values every day.
Of course, the work is still stressful, the hours long, and the clients
demanding, but there is good stress and bad stress. Everyday task-related
pressure is typically much easier to cope with than stress that comes directly
from one’s superior. And pressure on young staff is perhaps nowhere more
apparent than in the Big Four environment. “We need to make sure that our