The State of the Merger
I wrote this post a few months ago when merger work was well underway. I didn't post it then, hoping things would change. But to honest they haven't. While progress has been made, each step along the way follows a script that's pretty similar to what's below, regardless of the size and scale of the individual piece of work. If I were to describe my view of the current state of the merger, it would be this:
Imagine you’re an architect. You meet a client. They have secured financing, the buy-in of some pretty influential backers, and a mandate to build one of the greatest buildings in the world and put Adelaide on the map.
As an architect, this sounds great. It's a dream job, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. So you sit down with the client to start forming a brief, but they’re distracted.
“There’s so much to do. We need to start marketing this thing, get the plans in, and get ready for tenants now!”
What you say sounds great, but let’s start with some fundamentals - what kind of building do you want this to be?
“The greatest. World class. We are going to be a magnet for overseas investment and visitors while providing a key service to the state.”
That’s fantastic, so what is this building going to DO that allows that to occur?
“Well, it needs to be flexible. We want the highest possible quality experience for everyone who visits. And for those who can’t make it, the same quality experience online! Yes! We have to have the greatest experience for everyone. This is going to make us world-class.”
Wow, that sounds amazing, but WHAT is IT? Tell me, what is the core experience you want to deliver?
“Well, we need it to be modular so that people can customise their experience. We need flexibility so they can come to us from anywhere.”
OK. So I think we still need to understand what are they coming FOR?
“Look, we want to be a people-first organisation, and we want to reflect the diversity of our people, their culture, and that of the First Nations. We have to be accessible and ensure we have people’s well-being at the forefront.”
That sounds really worthwhile. But we want to get into some details now. In order for us to draw up any plans, we want to make sure we understand the function of the space. To ensure that we can build the best buildings, we find that knowing what you want them to be there for and what you want them to do while they are in the building is important. Mistakes made in planning can be really expensive later on. It’s best for us to get as full a picture of what you need, and we can do the design work and sort out the details.
“Well, that’s great. We need to get the plans off to the council in 15 days. We’ve set up meetings next week with our staff, and they will tell you what materials to use and the dimensions they come in. Ok, well, that was a great meeting. I have to rush! Have a branding meeting for the new logo. Bye!
They leave, and the door shuts.
Your phone buzzes continually for a minute as 25 notifications inform you of meetings you’re now attending.
Good luck!