SAN FRANCISCO - As a company flies into the turbulent skies of a merger and acquisition, a flurry of problems loom larger and larger in the cockpit windshield. As instructions squawk from her earpiece and she ruffles through maps, occasionally peering into the murky darkness for landmarks, the pilot takes in a panoramic view of a distressingly threatening sky. As might be expected, the pilot becomes frantic.

Situation overload

The pilot is on the verge of a dangerous condition known among aviators as "situation overload," said strategic consultant Gerald O'Dwyer, a pilot whose San Francisco and Chicago-based firm Fuzhen Group instructs corporation managers in how to navigate the unusual terrain companies face in an increasingly competitive and fast-changing world. The goal for managers is to avoid becoming overwhelmed, and this is done through training. Fuzhen's next Chicago four-hour workshop will be offered at the prestigious Union League Club, 65 West Jackson Blvd., Chicago, Illinois 60604, on Feb. 5. For more information, contact George at 415-561-9690 or email: george.

Forty-four-year-old O'Dwyer uses the pilot analogy to explain the importance of taking positive steps to stay on track through situations that have become typical to the corporate world, notably mergers and acquisitions and rolling out new strategies.

Human factor

"There is a human factor in any corporate change. The assumption is people resist change, defend turf and protect their own interests. ... At risk is the benefits of combining forces," said O'Dwyer, who also will teach a course scheduled to begin in Chicago on April 12. (The Feb. 5 workshop in Chicago is an abbreviated version of the course.)

A better way

"Mergers and acquisitions, in particular, get on a trajectory that may bring about the sought after change, but at what expense? In the more dangerous scenario, heading up the team responsible for absorbing another company will fall on the desk of a manager who already has been assigned a greater workload because of the M&A. He or she is not only handling the old job, but new responsibilities that came with the acquisition. Now, she is being asked to head a team to lead the company through the M&A. What happens?" O'Dwyer asked. "That person's responsibilities become overwhelming. The result is the process ends up drawing on more resources and completion of the M&A begins eating into reserves." There is a better way, he says.

Department heads and managers enhance their skill sets learning more effective communication skills in leading team members through problems they will be better prepared to anticipate thanks to the instruction and exercises offered in Fuzhen's course and the shorter seminar. O'Dwyer dismisses notions that people "hate changes" or resist new cultures. "That's the lazy man's way of not recognizing the source of the problems that crop up." Helping companies since 1982, Fuzhen has many major names in its resume. Among corporate giants Fuzhen has helped are ChevronTexaco and Motorola. The city of Naperville, Ill., also has been a client.

Speeding up Chevron

In 2002, Chevron's disparate holdings included several newly merged firms that were assigned to the unfamiliar terrain of adopting a new corporate culture and redesigning a Web site to fit a "new look and feel" when O'Dwyer was brought in. Naturally, there was going to be resistance. But over the course of four months, O'Dwyer's instruction headed off the usual slate of problems. A team was formed, and with O'Dwyer's help, Chevron's staff of professionals designed a process to speed up the time of implementation of the changes that would remake the Chevron companies. The resistance is not to change, O'Dwyer said. Managers effective in leading team members may be missing experience in dealing with how changes unfold. This is where O'Dwyer comes in. Extra training, establishing principles and strategizing give managers the tools to overcome any human factors in the process. "Processes can be developed to overcome the natural reaction of busy employees, whose concerns are for their core responsibilities," O'Dwyer said.

The Graham School of General Studies at the University of Chicago and Fuzhen developed the workshop for management. Participants are trained in advanced communication skills that enable them to speed the time to implementation of any strategy, project or initiative.
Fuzhen's next Chicago workshop will be offered at the prestigious Union League Club, 65 West Jackson Blvd., Chicago, Illinois 60604, on March 4. For more information and registration, contact George at 415-561-9690 or email: george.