Every year, I attend the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo. On the surface, the celebration appears to be a stuffy old military parade, but in the audience, as you watch coloured projections flare across Edinburgh Castle and neon-clad bagpipers harmonise with DJs, you realise it’s something more complicated: a unique blend of the old and the new, of history and the present.
Preservation of the old must go hand-in-hand with innovation if traditions, customs and values are to survive. This truth manifests differently in different situations, but we can’t preserve history by entirely clinging to the past.
In the realm of mergers and acquisitions, this balance between preservation and innovation becomes even more critical. When two companies come together, they bring with them distinct histories, cultures and values. The challenge lies in integrating these elements to truly get the best of both worlds; to form something new without losing the unique differences that made each company successful. Many companies could learn from modern cultural events like the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo: embracing innovation and technology does not run counter to honouring history or tradition. In fact, many of the most powerful instances of the latter happen when you lean into the former.
Harnessing New Technologies
Emerging technologies offer powerful tools to help preserve the legacy elements of a company’s culture while embracing innovation. For instance, digital archives can store and share historical documents, photos and stories, ensuring that a company’s heritage is accessible to all employees, old and new. Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) can create immersive experiences that bring a company’s history, and vision for the future, to life, using the same technology museums are developing for heritage sites to instead capture company landmarks that may be closing due to the merger.
While collaborative platforms and communications tech can be leveraged to foster a sense of unity across two companies, the content provided on those platforms is just as vital. Storytelling, for example, can be a powerful tool. Sharing stories of each company’s journey, challenges, and triumphs can create a shared narrative that employees from both sides can relate to and be inspired by. To do this well, consider experimenting with various narrative models (such as interactive storytelling games at all-staff meetings) and adapt old content for new cultural relevance.
Commemorating the Past While Continuously Learning
Through such technologies, an organisation can encourage an innovation mindset based on continuous learning and fostering seamless collaboration. Continuous learning should be supported by integrated training programmes, regular workshops on emerging trends and the formation of cross-functional teams to promote knowledge sharing. In addition, these “learning moments” can be combined with honouring the old, such as planning workshop sessions in celebration of milestones, anniversaries and achievements from both companies to create a sense of continuity and respect for legacy.
The mindset that allows one to modernise a Scottish military parade into a staple cultural event is ultimately pretty similar to the mindset that allows a leader to get the best of both worlds from two combined companies. It comes down to separating the essential from the peripheral; to asking what has really mattered — the details that made a culture what it is and therefore cannot be lost — and what has not. The best leaders passionately protect the former and actively seek to let go of the latter. They know we don’t preserve history by freezing things in the past; we preserve it, rather, by breaking tradition down into parts, and having the courage to let the past exist alongside the present.
