They have an effect on people.
They reveal an attitude.
Here’s a simple exercise.
Consider the terms that are often used in the context of and applied regularly to the practice of mergers and acquisitions:
Deal
Transaction
Structure
Integrate
Valuation
Due Diligence
Marketable
Doing Deals
Broker
Deal Flow
Distressed Business
Transition
Acquired
Merged
What happens when you change the words, does the tone automatically change?
| Regularly used |
Deal
Transaction
Structure
Integrate
Valuation
Due Diligence
Marketable
Doing Deals
Broker
Deal Flow
Distressed Business
Transition
Acquired
Merged
New approach
Covenant
Carry Out
Composition
Combine
Judgment
Carefulness
Sought After
Making Connections
Agent
Course
Not Content
Evolution
Realized
United
To communicate clearly and effectively during times of change, choose words carefully. Employees and customers will note your tone.
Here’s another list of words:
Lean and Mean
Conservative
Cutthroat
Risk Taking
Sense of Urgency
Paternalistic
Hierarchical
Fun
Quality Driven
Empowered
Collaborative
Consensus Building
Competitive
Process Driven
Innovative
Cost Driven
Family Friendly
Sales Driven
These words are examples of behaviors that are often used to describe an organization’s culture.
Do they reveal an attitude? Do you think each organizational behavior type has a different effect on its people?
During mergers and acquisitions, there are negative impacts when both words and cultures are misaligned. For more on the subject, check out the MMC Knowledge Center.
