If your company is undergoing a merger or acquisition, you're apt to feel anxious. Roughly 30% of employees are deemed redundant when firms in the same industry merge. But you needn't dread the outcome, say the authors, who draw on their experience as academics and consultants. They've found that employees usually reap great rewards if they embrace the M&A process as a chance for introspection and growth. Your first step should be to figure out where you stand. The authors recommend conducting a SWOT analysis: Assess your strengths and weaknesses and the opportunities and threats that the deal presents. Then get involved in the integration effort--in a way that lets you showcase or sharpen your skills. Executing transition plans, innovating, and collaborating with new colleagues are all postmerger opportunities for personal growth. If you prove adept, you will be well positioned for success in the hybrid organization--or at another company. The authors suggest specific questions to ask yourself as you take stock of the situation. They provide tips on how to make sure you have a role in the integration work. And they present brief case studies of four professionals who followed the recommended approach and emerged from their companies' M&A deals as "winners."

It's not easy to recover from a big career disappointment such as getting fired or being passed over for a promotion. Many people sink into anger or denial, blaming situational factors or company politics. Though that's a natural response, it can also prevent them from breaking free of the destructive behaviors that may have derailed them in the first place. People who successfully rebound from career losses take a different approach: They do the hard work of figuring out why they lost, identifying which new paths they could take, and then seizing the right opportunity--whether that's a different role in the same organization, a move to a new company, or a shift to a new industry or career. Drawing on in-depth research and the authors' consulting experience, this article offers practical guidance for transforming anger and self-doubt over what seems like a failure into focused exploration and excitement about the fresh possibilities the situation presents. To gauge your ability to rebound from career setbacks, take the self-assessment at hbr.org/assessments/mirror-test.

During a merger, senior managers may be tempted to dictate strict assignments or hire consultants to do the heavy lifting. But that approach denies top leaders the chance to let their managers grow and develop. What's more, sticking with leaders already in place is the best way to build a team that can make the most of the new organization that will emerge. Companies can maximize the growth opportunities inherent in a merger by developing three specific leadership areas. The first, getting everyone on the same page, is best accomplished by drawing up what the authors call a "merger intent" document to clearly outline what's expected of everyone on both sides of the deal. The second, executing with discipline, involves putting people with high potential into critical short-term roles and letting them strengthen their abilities. It also involves setting immediate, challenging goals for teams in an attempt to boost achievement. The third leadership area, building an A-team, directs top managers to conduct an overall assessment of the talent available on both sides of the deal and create a team that reflects the best of the best. The integration process can be emotional and difficult. Giving up-and-coming leaders the chance to perform under pressure, however, will yield leadership dividends sure to benefit firms for years to come.

Large organizations are by nature complex, but over the years new business challenges--globalization, innovative technologies, and regulations, to name a few--have conspired to add layer upon layer of complexity to corporate structure and management. Organizations have become increasingly ungovernable and unwieldy: Performance is declining; accountability is unclear; decision rights are muddy; and data are crunched repeatedly, often with no clear purpose in mind. To avoid frustration and inefficiency, executives need to systematically attack the causes of complexity in their companies. Ashkenas and his partners at Robert H. Schaffer & Associates have worked with dozens of firms to help them develop strategies for simplification. In this article, the author details the elements of a simplicity-minded strategy: Streamline the structure; prune products, services, and features; build disciplined processes; and improve managerial habits. ConAgra Foods' experience illustrates how one company turned itself around through careful execution of a simplicity strategy. The packaged-food supplier had become enormously successful by acquiring well known brands and then allowing them to operate autonomously, evolving into a $14 billion organization with more than 100 brands, a food services business, and a commodity trading operation. ConAgra, however, had no common method for reporting, tracking, or analyzing results. Over time, therefore, it became a highly unwieldy enterprise, riddled with inefficiencies and unable to communicate adequately with investors and other stakeholders. When CEO Gary Rodkin came on board in 2005, he invested in a series of initiatives to combat complexity. The tactic not only made life easier for customers and employees but also saved millions of dollars in costs. This article has an online interactive questionnaire that can help you assess your own company's level of complexity.