My (as well as my peers') experience in mergers have never followed the path Dr. Bob described. Can't quibble with the answer, per se -- you asked for chances of an optimistic outcome, and the good doc provided an optimistic answer.

Problem is, despite companies' best intentions in a merger, culture is a very strong force which will not change quickly or easily. And that natural tension will cause a period of uncertainty and difficulty in the organization -- if you can weather that, there often is opportunity.

I think the two misstatements in the advice (IMHO) are that there's such a thing as a merger of equals and that a merged company can create an identity/culture.

There's never a merger of equals -- that's a diplomatic euphemism. There's always an acquirer and acquiree. Can't figure out who's in each role? Peruse the post-merger org chart and gague where the key decision makers came from.

Second, when two companies with existing cultures merge, an organization cannot simply create an identity or culture. Companies will sincerely try to do that, but will fail. The reason is that the longer employees are with a company, the deeper that company's culture is ingrained. The deeeper its ingrained, the more resistance to change there will be.

Usually, a new culture will *evolve.* This involves a few things -- many employees leave post-merger, and are replaced with people who don't have a history with the prior culture and are more adaptable to a new culture. And the two pre-merger corporate cultures eventually blend into a hybrid culture. The one exception is where there's a very clear distinction between acquirer and acquiree -- the acquirer's culture will be the culture.

Not trying to be the rain on the parade, but rather, if you see what I've described happening -- accept it for what it is. Its usually a natural cycle in mergers and not necessarily merger mismanagement. And if you follow Dr. Bob's mantra of "I don't have problems, I don't cause problems, I can help solve your problems," have an open mind and willingness to help out, you will very likely find many opportunities within the new company.