americracy anyone?

americracy (unknown) melting down disparate elements to form a new reality

melt v. n. to pass, dwindle, or fade gradually (often fol. by away)

equilibrium n. a state of rest or balance due to the equal action of opposing forces.

lip service n. Verbal expression of agreement or allegiance, unsupported by real conviction or action; hypocritical respect:

“We’ve all been fired.”

Those were the words offered by my co-worker on Tuesday at our hastily called company staff meeting. Of course, he had said it in jest following our CEO’s opening remarks of “today is a very exciting day for us.” Had my co-worker been in the “know” – he would have understood why those four words were followed by a brief, almost subtle, understated yet uncomfortable silence. Our CEO response was a barely audible “some may not find that so funny” and with that he unleashed the worst kept company secret – we had been acquired by one of the largest healthcare players in the U.S. domestic market. That put to rest all of the rumours and innuendos that had been circulating at a heightened pace throughout the morning following the witnessing of the first “walkout.”

The next 15 minutes were dedicated to the virtues of this new conglomerate and if you had been listening to what was being said – I’m sure you would have found them very impressive. However, at that moment every single person who wasn’t part of the executive team was thinking the very same thing – what does this mean for me? No one cared that we could buy stocks at reduced prices, had two extra vacation days or that we all now had a plethora of opportunity (albeit in Minnetonka, MN) – all we wanted to know was - “do I have a job?”

Having caught wind of this news a bit before the big meeting meant that I had time to “digest” it although I had very little idea what it meant for me. I had been hire number 15 when I started working for this company over six years ago – and today I was the 6th oldest employee. All that was about to change because as of October 9th – I was to become employee number 55,006. WOW.

Looking around the room – I knew the fate of others was far worse then mine – and even though the company line was that “we all had jobs” the undeniable question was how much of that was just lip service?

Upon hearing the news, the domestic U.S. sales team literally hung their heads in their hands – minds already calculating which one of their contacts they could call to secure/procure their next employment. The Chief Marketing Office of the domestic sales team tried to keep a poker face but the dejection rang through loud and clear. Our COO made an interesting attempt to sell the fact that he had been thinking of going into early retirement anyway so this was a great opportunity for him to “step down.” In one fell swoop – the lives of about 100 people were changed – perhaps a bit melodramatic but true nonetheless.

From a personal perspective – it comes with mixed emotions – our COO has now “retired”, my director has "parted ways" - so where does that leave the little people within this new Fortune 50 Company? But the reality is, at times like this – there is no place for emotion.

From a business perspective – it’s a brilliant move for our 35 year old CEO who started this business out of his room in a frat house, decided not to finish university and 11 years later had the largest U.S. healthcare company ask him to sell out and he did. The truth is – had you or I been in his shoes – we would have done the same thing.

As I went home that night, I thought back to Tuesday morning when the only decision I was faced with was what shoes should I wear with my business casual attire – the black Reebok trail shoes or my red and white Asics running shoes. I then fast forwarded to the after work drink/gossip/bitch session where aside from hailing the virtues of the acquisition - someone was planning on dry-cleaning their business suits – because you only get one chance to make a first impression with a new boss.

This acquisition is a bit like life and death. If we don’t have life or death or have too much of either one – the pendulum swings too far in one direction and the world as we know it has no balance - the result is that chaos ensues. The business world is no different – it too needs a steady pendulum to maintain equilibrium.

In trying to understand the the happenings of the past few days - I have learned a new word. The word is both a bit ugly and crude - perhaps my issue with it is that it seems to personify the ideologies of Geroge Bush - one that is more concerned with strong arming vs. understanding. Regardless, this new word amptly describes a new world order of balance and it is “americracy.”

If you Google americracy – you won’t find too many results for it. It is a difficult word – one that doesn’t roll off the tongue easily and perhaps that should be indicative of its meaning - melting down disparate elements to form a new reality. Think about that. That is life, death and rebirth all in one and as a result the pendulum remains still and we now have equilibrium once again.

Perhaps I should trade in both my black Reebok trail shoes and my red and white Asics running shoes for a pair of sensible pumps but I’ll leave my corporate suits in the closest and take a chance to see which side of the pendulum I land on.