Below the waterline of a fusion context: the Iceberg model in Athmos practice.

Two medium-sized companies (approximately 80 employees each) are merging after years of cooperation. One organization is highly process-driven and business-structured. The other is people-centered, informal, and locally rooted. Although the merger is strategically logical, integration is difficult. On paper, everything is correct. But in practice, it stalls.

EVENTS

SYMPTOMS
  • Teams stick to their own habits, methods, and jargon
  • There is distrust between people from the two organizations (“what are their intentions?”)
  • Later, this translates into open annoyance, sabotage or island formation.
  • Coordination meetings are tense or avoided
  • Customers notice a difference in approach and accountability
  • New employees don't know who to turn to for what

What Athmos does:

We start with Athmos Pulse in objectifying signals: what is really going on? What feelings are at play?

For organizations, this means: subcutaneous tensions can be discussed, persistent misunderstandings get language and facts, and leaders see clearly where energy is being lost or released. This allows teams to get to the core faster, increases trust and lays the foundation for supported decisions and targeted action.

PATTERNS

UNCOVER DYNAMICS
  • Teams seek support within their “own old structure”, and close themselves off from cooperation
  • Department heads defend their way of working as if it were under threat
  • In informal conversations, cynicism about “the others” sounds
  • Conflicts are not pronounced but played out passively
  • People wait and see, no longer take the initiative, and prefer individual solutions

What Athmos does:

Athmos Atlas maps out where cooperation and trust are really struggling or stagnating. In this way, Athmos ensures that people feel heard, that they really work together again, and that change is not something to be afraid of, but rather an opportunity to come out stronger.

STRUCTURES

dismantle system logic
  • A dual reality has arisen: formally we are one company, informally we remain two camps
  • The new organizational structure is based on people from one of the two companies
  • KPIs and expectations are different per team, without a shared reference
  • Consultation structures have been imposed, not tailored to relational relationships
  • There is no shared rhythm, no shared language, no shared decision framework

What Athmos does:

Athmos Atlas makes system logic visible and detects alternative structures, KPIs and forms of consultation based on shared values and relational impact.

In this way, skewed responsibilities and conflicting rhythms disappear, there is clarity in decision-making and cooperation is not only more efficient but also more supported. In a merger context, this means: less energy loss in consultation, faster integration of cultures and a collaborative way of working that builds trust.

MENTAL MODELS

underlying worldview
  • “We were acquired, not merged.”
  • “Our vote weighs less.”
  • “It's us against them, let's protect our own nest.”
  • “They want to change everything that worked well.”
  • “I can't say anything wrong or I'll lose my position.”
  • “There's no room for mistakes, so I'm playing it safe.”

What Athmos does:

Athmos Compass makes underlying beliefs explicit and, through narrative retelling, translates them into a shared story that provides direction and builds trust.

In merger processes, this means that feelings of exclusion, distrust and conservative loyalty are recognized and transformed into a common narrative. This creates psychological safety, increases ownership and gives the integration of cultures a firm basis, instead of underlying conflict.

Tier
What's going on?
What does Athmos do?
What's changing?
Events

Island formation, hostility between teams, stagnation, turnover

Signaling and articulating undercurrent with narrative precision

Recognition of tensions without attribution of debt

Pattern

Repetition of conflict avoidance, cynicism, loyalty to the past

Narrative pattern analysis and cultural diagnosis via AI + dialogue

Insight into group dynamics and informal power structures

Structure

Unequal decision making, asymmetric integration, lack of a shared compass

Redrawing consultation structures, KPIs, responsibilities

One whole based on a new commonality

Mental models

Beliefs of exclusion, loss, mistrust, self-protection

Collective retelling through dialogue processes, narrative leadership, mirror sessions

Shared new story that guides strategy and collaboration

Tier
What's going on?
What does Athmos do?
What's changing?
Events

Resignation, inaction, frustration

Bundling signals, recognizing friction

Recognition without culprits

Pattern

Repeated resistance

Objectifying patterns via semantic data

Common language for what's going on

Structure

Unequal responsibility

System Diagnostics and KPI Revision

Better coordination between role and mandate

Mental models

“My opinion doesn't count”

Narrative work and leadership guidance

Ownership and psychological safety are increasing

Tier
What's going on?
What does Athmos do?
What's changing?
Events

Frustration about pace, confusion of roles, imminent dropping out, fragmented communication

Bundling and clarifying relationship signals

Recognition of the field of tension as a structural element

Pattern

Repeated conflict avoidance, parallel logics, personal agendas

Pattern analysis by rhythm, language and power

New language for collaboration, based on reality instead of expectations

Structure

No shared mandate, unclear responsibilities, conflicting KPIs

System diagnosis and frame redrawing

Rules of the game that bear tensions instead of suppressing them

Mental models

Ideological clashes, mistrust between expertise, conflicting worldviews

Cultural conversations and narrative retelling (= reformulating the shared story)

Shared story where differences are identified, acknowledged and strategically linked

Conclusion

Why Athmos is relevant for mergers and acquisitions

In a merger, integration rarely fails on paper. The business case is correct. People's relational reality thinks differently about this. But underneath the skin, in the undercurrent, it clashes: different styles, assumptions, loyalties and speeds.
Without guidance on that underlay, the merger remains paperwork.

Athmos helps organizations:

  • discussing tensions between past and future,
  • translating silence and sabotage into guiding insights,
  • and build a common cultural story that doesn't start with the structure, but with people's experience.

Athmos guides mergers based on system intelligence and narrative precision.

Athmos's approach not only strengthens trust and connection during mergers, but also provides immediate financial benefits: higher efficiency, better retention and fewer complaints. This increases returns and gives the new organization a sustainable future perspective.