The History Channel airs a program entitled Your Bleeped Up Brain. This program goes about framing our brains for not telling us the truth about what we see. For example, many of us have seen graphics such as the one associated with this article. This graphic is from More Games Trainers Play by Edward E. Scannell and John W. Newstrom. Many people will view this graphic and perceive that the three boys are different sizes. However, in reality, they are all the same size. Our brain is deceiving us. How often does this occur at work?
Organizational change can activate our deceiving brains by producing chaos, uncertainty, mistrust and incorrect perceptions. Often times employees fail to put what is happening in perspective. Moreover, they may trip up in a maze, become lost in a web of details, and are unable to see the big picture. Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are the perfect playground for producing such mischievous misconceptions. Employees on both sides of the M&As have their own unique perspectives.
Those being acquired feel betrayed and vulnerable. Employees from the acquiring organization have mixed feelings about their own stability in the “new” organization. Further, they may become overwhelmed with additional work, suspicious of the new comers and mistrustful of their own leadership’s motives. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to image what these mindsets do to productivity.
Newcomers may be anxious to prove their worth to their newly acquired bosses and co-workers. The acquiring organization’s staff may feel threatened, resentful and become passive aggressive. This develops into an “us and them” thinking pattern with one side pushing to get tasks and projects accomplished while others are pushing back with work being returned, or responses slowing to a snail’s pace. Meanwhile, both internal and external customers suffer from the backlog, backbiting and backlash. Preparation, while not a cure, is the best medicine for these types of behaviors. Here are five ideas to consider.
1. Each stage of growth presents specific challenges. Recognizing these challenges and their solutions will help prevent chaos.
2. It is essential to prepare all employees from both (or all) of the companies being acquired or merged for the upcoming changes.
3. Implement a good change model, such as John Kotter’s 8-Step Model to help ensure that the executive team covers all bases and push the changes forward.
4. Ensure that the CEO, mangers and staff understand where their focus needs to be for each stage of growth. The CEO is not necessarily the one who should be in a dominant behavioral mode in every stage.
5. Ensure that your current or new systems and procedures are flexible. Systems and procedures that are not flexible will stifle production, impede growth and create more chaos.
Help prevent the lying brain syndrome, by preparing yourself, your organization and your staff for continued growth, development and productivity. In most cases, just telling the truth about what’s on your brain for your organization’s future can work wonders.
