Masterful Mergers

Computerworld - Achieving the goals of a merger or consolidation can be tough. I know, having led the merger of six acquired technology groups at Thomson Financial in 2003. Forging a team from multiple cultures and connecting systems -- while cutting costs -- presents a thorny leadership challenge. My experience at Thomson Financial, an information and workflow software provider formed through more than 40 acquisitions, offers some lessons in effective mergers. Looking back a year later, here's what I learned:

1. Make Change So Simple It Hurts. Simplicity is key. Select a few priorities and execute deeply. Make visible progress, but don't chase perfection. Make fewer changes than you want, accept practical but inelegant solutions, and say no to lower priorities. You may want to simultaneously retire older systems, adopt a new architecture and redesign data center operations, but most organizations can concentrate on only a handful of goals during the emotional period following a merger.
Establish principles by defining how you want the organization to work, but allow latitude in how they are implemented. For example, we had great success adopting an architecture that used object-oriented front ends connected to back-end Web services. While not everyone used the exact same design pattern, developers adopted the new approach quickly. On the other hand, a new daily build system, where developers check in their code to test its fit with the work of others each day, wasn't as popular because it was very prescriptive about the tools and steps involved. In retrospect, we could have achieved most of the benefits by mandating that teams do a daily build but not specifying the details.
2. Don't Bend on Process. Process is the glue that binds the new organization. Make it one of your few top priorities. Adopting uniform processes can sound scary, particularly to people from smaller organizations where hallway conversations and personal relationships are enough to get work done, but don't make exceptions to keep a wary team comfortable. Some pointers:

Thomson Financial CIO Jeremy Lehman Image Credit: Bernd Auers

• Win over your direct reports first. Make sure they understand the benefits and how processes should work. Be an example to them of how they should evangelize their teams.


• Portals and collaboration systems are effective ways to launch new processes. Move fast and avoid the temptation to overengineer; use off-the-shelf tools where available.


• Many different approaches to software development and project management can work. Effective leadership and execution is more important than the choice of methodology. Start with a highly visible project, and don't grant any exceptions.