Chemistry 101

As someone who has been out of the courting phase for nearly three decades, I can still remember the feeling of when you had high hopes for an upcoming date and then for no inexplicable reason, it didn’t seem to click.

And there seemed no valid reason for it. You shared similar interests, appreciated a wide variety of foods and even offered the same opinions on hot button issues, or on a less serious tone, movies.

I’m sure we’ve all been there at one time or another and wondered either aloud or quietly, what happened?

As I grow older and hopefully wiser, I learned what happened. Chemistry; or lack thereof.

No matter if the stars align, or the mood at the restaurant or other chosen venue is perfect for a budding romance, sometimes it just doesn’t happen.

Again chemistry.

Recently, I was a front row witness to such an event. A seller practice had been in meetings with two firms - let’s call them Firm A and Firm B – both with stellar reputations in the profession and to borrow a terribly clichéd phrase, it was win-win for the mergee no matter which practice they selected.

If I were a betting man I would have placed a large sum of money on Firm A. Their meetings went well, the offer sheet was impressive and on paper at least it appeared to be a foregone conclusion.

You can imagine my surprise when they called and informed me they were headed in the other direction to Firm B. But my surprise was rather understated compared to the shock quotient voiced by the owners of Firm A.

Naturally I fielded the expected call from the managing partner of Firm A and tried to explain to them exactly what happened. I stressed that it was nothing they did wrong, but rather the comfort and chemistry level the seller felt with Firm B.

With each presentation I give throughout the year, one of my mandatory Power Point slides explains the four C’s of any successful merger – culture, capacity, continuity and of course chemistry. It’s rare you have a successful merger without all four. The remaining three are critical but I always place chemistry at the top of that list.

Like we tell all our seller firms: “If you don’t want to have lunch with someone, then don’t do a deal with them.” If they’re not comfortable with a potential successor why would they think their clients or staff would be?

Too bad I didn’t know all this when I was dating. I sat through a lot of lousy movies and restaurants with high expectations that afterward, often resulted in a simple handshake.