A very interesting experience we had in a culture integration process after an acquisition happened when we were called to follow the merger between the logistics company Sequoia (an ultra-pragmatic buyer) and Yep Log (an acquired company also from the logistics and distribution area that was known for its more humanistic performance). It was the first time we used the SenseMaker tool in Brazil, which we will talk about later. Sequoia stands out for having a profile of incessant search for continuous improvement of its Logistics and Transportation services. Formed by the unification of consolidated brands in the market, Sequoia is recognized for its ability to always deliver more. Developing complete and integrated solutions for outstanding brands, many of them leaders in their segments, Sequoia has a solid and differentiated expertise in e-commerce, Education and Fashion & Retail, with the largest “cabled” fleet in Brazil, that is, deliveries made directly to the points of sale of the largest fashion retail chains in the country. With the technical knowledge and experience of the companies that have contributed to its successful trajectory, Sequoia has unified all its operations, further enhancing its ability to supply the market with solutions that make a difference. Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version) [1]
Sequoia’s main challenge was not to lose the more humanistic part of Yep’s organizational culture, while at the same time having to meet the demands of the large number of customers in its own portfolio (Yep had only two strong and constant customers). In other words, to incorporate the benefits of a different culture without affecting, at the end, the effective gains provided by its existing processes and improved from the larger scale of service. For this, as mentioned, we used the SenseMaker tool[2]: the world’s first crowdsourcingmethod that takes into account human judgments, meanings, and feelings. The voice of all employees in both companies deserved its strength, and the tool offered a science-based approach to guide collective impact and leverage the strengths of each human being, even in uncertain times for them. People experience life as actors and observers, and at every moment there is new personal knowledge and insight occurring. Whether their experiences take place in the workplace, in public spaces, or simply in social activities, the knowledge about each moment is always deeply personal. In this way, SenseMaker recognizes that human knowledge is to some extent always partial and biased. But his ability to map the field of knowledge across a large number and diversity of people and perspectives is what gave a much deeper and more authentic sense of reality to his diagnoses in the process. By presenting and distributing the power of situational interpretation, SenseMaker brought epistemic justice (from the actual knowledge of a given group and time) to collaborators, consumers, and citizens. Simply put, SenseMaker enabled the capture of people’s experiences when they were most relevant. In other words, with SenseMaker, we are able to see broadly, identifying patterns in the narratives of large and diverse populations, while at the same time gaining accurate information from the individual experiences that people share in their contexts. With SenseMaker’s intuitive visual analysis tools (figure xx), we did not need to have a background in statistics to explore and understand the patterns presented in the data from both companies. We obtained the qualitative narratives and quantitative data available simultaneously which provided us with the actionable insights needed for faster and better decision making during the merger process. SenseMaker’s ability to continuously collect data also allowed us to track the impact and effectiveness of decisions and interventions, so we could adjust our efforts over time. We had an excellent result in the merger process between the two companies even though there were conflicts related to an accelerated synergy agenda between the companies, which may have caused some of the more subtle elements to be lost. But the use of SenseMaker to understand the two cultures and the possible paths for their integration was very powerful. [1] Sequoia website. Available at Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
<http://sequoialog.com.br/quem-somos/>. Accessed June 2, 2020. [2] SenseMaker website. Available at
<https://sensemaker.cognitive-edge.com/what-is-sensemaker/>. Accessed May 31, 2020.