Over time, however, the gains from decentralization were offset by emerging weaknesses, particularly in the ways locally managed training programs interacted to create a coordinated and comprehensive approach to career development. Training efforts under local management were allowed to go their own way; inevitably, these programs became increasingly disconnected from Bain's senior management and lacked a unifying theme or vision. ''After a few years," Tierney notes, "it became apparent that we had to create central management of education, while retaining the benefits of decentralized ownership, input, and participation.