Likely Normal

“Synergy” is the magical business buzzword that sounds like progress but usually just means someone’s about to reorganize the entire company into oblivion. No one ever says “We need more synergy!” and follows it with good news. It’s always the prelude to a PowerPoint titled “New Strategic Alignment” which, when translated from corporate nonsense, means “Your desk is now in the bathroom.”

The moment leadership starts waxing poetic about “breaking down silos” and “leveraging cross-functional collaboration,” you know the reorg is coming. Departments will be merged, job titles will be “optimized,” and someone’s favorite middle manager will inexplicably get promoted despite having the strategic vision of a potato. The org chart will be redrawn so many times it starts to resemble a toddler’s crayon masterpiece, and yet—somehow—no actual work will get done faster.

The funniest part? The reorg never actually creates synergy. Instead, it produces:

• Confusion – “Wait, who approves my time-off requests now? Is it Karen? IT? The chatbot?”
• Chaos – Three people doing the same job, five people doing nothing, and one intern suddenly in charge of “innovation.”
• Cynicism – The dawning realization that “synergy” was just a fancy way to say “We’re cutting costs, but with more flowcharts.”

By the time the dust settles, the only real “synergy” achieved is a shared trauma bond among employees who now communicate exclusively through sarcastic Slack emojis. But hey—at least the consultants got paid.