Michael Lissack Failure in Artificial Unity Our holonic natures need to be recognized in deeds and not merely in words. This is what we mean by “respect.” Its absence, despite propa- ganda to the contrary, can tear an organization apart just as its leaders are proclaiming its inherent unity to the world. Consider Allegis Corp. You don’t recognize Allegis? Perhaps you know its parts: United Airlines, Hertz, Westin and Hilton Hotels. Allegis was supposed to revolutionize the way we travel and achieve synergies among the flight we take, the car we rent, and the bed we sleep in. As a vehicle for delivering value to consumers, Allegis was a great idea, but about 10 years ahead of its time. Where Allegis and its architect, UAL chief Richard Farrell, failed was in addressing the roles and expectations of its employees. United’s pilots did not like losing their perceived status as the “important ones” at the company. Other airline employees wondered about being made comparable to “mere” car rental people. The reservations clerk stationed at the Hertz drop-off booth resented being “off airport.” Then there was the diversion of revenues into making property improvements at the hotels rather than buying new planes and flying new routes. Senior management at Allegis had a unified idea, but they failed miserably in getting it embraced by their organization. The very unity they proclaimed was undermined by the frac- tures and divisiveness that management did not want to recognize. Less than a year after Allegis was born, hostile takeover offers forced it apart. This tension between imposed unity and authentic multiplicity con- tinues to shape organizational dynamics today. Consider the challenges faced by companies formed through mergers and acquisitions, where distinct corporate cultures with different role expectations are suddenly expected to function as a unified whole. The statistics on M&A failures— with 70-90% of deals failing to achieve their expected value—speak to the difficulty of forcing artificial unity on organizations with different identities, roles, and operating models.
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