DiscoverArguing AgileAA230 - The Human Cost of M&A: When Good People Turn Against Each Other
AA230 - The Human Cost of M&A: When Good People Turn Against Each Other

AA230 - The Human Cost of M&A: When Good People Turn Against Each Other

Update: 2025-09-25
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Description

Ever wondered why mergers and acquisitions turn good people against each other? 

In this deep dive, we explore the systematic destruction of workplace relationships after an M&A. 

From sponsors-turned-foes to information warfare, discover why even the most collaborative cultures become pathological survival games.

Key Topics:
• Why M&As create artificial scarcity and paranoia
• The sponsor-turned-foe phenomenon
• Information as currency and weapon
• Blame archaeology and scapegoating
• The performance of fake collaboration
• How PE controls destroy generative cultures

Whether you're facing an acquisition or leading through one, this episode reveals the uncomfortable truths about corporate transformation.

#MergersAcquisitions #Leadership #CorporateCulture

LINKS
YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@arguingagile
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/362QvYORmtZRKAeTAE57v3
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/agile-podcast/id1568557596
Website: http://arguingagile.com

REFERENCES

  1. Arguing Agile 61: Experiences in Corporate Buyouts (Mergers & Acquisitions)
  2. Arguing Agile 96: Stages of Company Decline, or When Companies Hate Their Customers
  3. Arguing Agile 217: Extreme Ownership Military Leadership Lessons
  4. Arguing Agile 219 - How Private Equity Killed Instant Pot (And Why Your Product Could Be Next)
  5. Suzanne Collins - The Hunger Games (2008)
  6. Marty Cagan - Transformed: Moving to the Product Operating Model (2024)

INTRO MUSIC
Toronto Is My Beat
By Whitewolf (Source: https://ccmixter.org/files/whitewolf225/60181)
CC BY 4.0 DEED (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en)

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AA230 - The Human Cost of M&A: When Good People Turn Against Each Other

AA230 - The Human Cost of M&A: When Good People Turn Against Each Other

Brian Orlando