Mergers and Acquisitions
The decision to acquire or merge is usually driven by the assumption that the whole is always bigger than the sum of its parts. Unfortunately, as logical as it seems, it doesn’t always work out that way. Research has shown that nearly 80% of mergers and acquisitions fail to meet the expectations that were used to justify them. And almost three out of five marriages end in divorce. To say nothing of those that fail but aren’t brought to a legal end. Why? - Well we think it is because we use the wrong criteria in making the decision. We use money and power – instead of extra free willing human energy. Neither power nor money has sustainable impact upon happiness – the happiness of individuals, partnerships, relationships or organisations. Only high-energy people are really happy and only high-energy partnerships and teams too. That’s when synergy abounds and the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. That’s what we define as leadership. That’s what we enjoy most and teach best.
To Acquire or Merge?
The decision to acquire or merge is usually driven by the assumption that the whole is always bigger than the sum of its parts. It is probably the assumption that drives the decision to find a life partner, or marry and to start a family perhaps. Unfortunately, as logical as it seems, it doesn’t always work out that way. Research has shown that nearly 80% of mergers and acquisitions fail to meet the expectations that were used to justify them. And almost three out of five marriages end in divorce. To say nothing of those that fail but aren’t brought to a legal end. And not all families are happy, not all children add to the happiness of the whole.
Why?
Well we think it is because we use the wrong criteria in making the decision. We use money and power – instead of extra free willing human energy. The questions we should ask are about energy. Will the merger or acquisition or union or new child enhance the energy for all of us who are involved? And then how should we behave towards each other to truly maximise that energy premium? And how should its success be measured?
In most cases, it is just another opportunity for a power struggle and the sad discovery that two cannot live as cheaply as one. The downside is often that the merger or union is substantially less happy especially for the one who loses power to the other.
I was, or we were, better off on our own is often the honest post merger or postnuptial admission.
Human energy, like electricity, is so difficult to see. Children sense it and sometimes almost ‘see’ it, but adults seem to have lost their awareness of energy. But we can feel it especially if it is negative. Put your fingers into a live socket and you can feel it – and you know when your “life battery” is flat.
Neither power nor money has sustainable impact upon happiness – the happiness of individuals, partnerships, relationships or organisations. Only high-energy people are really happy and only high-energy partnerships and teams too. That’s when synergy abounds and the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. That’s what we define as leadership.
That’s what we enjoy most and teach best.
Colin Hall
November 2004
