Fw: OS for mergers and aquisitions

[eewing at inforamp.net]

Romy:

I have not done OS in a merger situation but here are my thoughts on
mergers and feel free to use them as you can:

1.  Most of the visible work in mergers is done by very senior people who
immerse themselves in financial and legal due diligence and designation of
the senior positions (i.e. who will get what jobs)
and this work is done leading up to the merger.

2 .Very rarely is there enough attention paid to what happens afterwards,
especially such things as merging and integrating the cultures.

3. Mergers usually are extremely threatening to most people as there is
enormous loss associated with it and often people are not given the
opportunity to grieve or any respect for their loss.

4. The work done before the merger, which is enormous, is the tip of the
iceberg compared with the work afterwards which is largely the amount below
water.

5. My observation is that tight, controlling procedures and policies will
take precedence over looser, inclusive decision-making in the absence of a
decision by senior management to respect that latter since the former
usually regards the latter as flakey or downright incompetent.

6. Open Space, I speculate, would support the latter in ways that might
open everyone up to respecting each others' gifts and differences.

7. I don't know what your invitation will say but if there is a new vision
for the newly merged organization, they could come prepared to deal with
the new vision and the new entity and plan what needs to get done.

I'd love to hear how it goes. And any wisdom you come up with, I'd
appreciate hearing myself.

Regards
Esther