Business Merger: You Didn’t Hear?


Business Merger: You Didn't Hear?

Cartooning, like most art, has a number of standard clichés. There’s the desert island, the psychiatrist, the mountaintop guru, and, of course, the devil/angel shoulder conversation.

You see this in TV and movies too. Someone is trying to decide whether or not to do something, and “POOF,” little versions of themselves appear with halos and pitchforks to offer advice.

These clichés are hard to revisit because they’ve been around for so long. To come up with a new take is exceedingly rare, so you don’t invest a lot of time with them. But I like a challenge and every so often I like to take a cartoon chestnut and try to crack it.

The above cartoon took most of a weekend of turning the concept over and over in my head, but I was pleased with the end result.

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Mark Anderson, professional cartoonist

About the Author: Mark Anderson’s cartoons appear in publications including The Wall Street Journal and Harvard Business Review. Anderson is the creator of the popular cartoon website, Andertoons.com, where he licenses his cartoons for presentations, newsletters and other projects. He blogs at Andertoons cartoon blog.

6 Comments ▼

Mark Anderson Mark Anderson's cartoons appear in publications including Forbes, The Wall Street Journal and Harvard Business Review. His business cartoons are available for licensing at his website, Andertoons.com.

6 Reactions
  1. Mark,

    Is it a combo of a devil and angel at the same time?! 😉 Or is the angel hiding behind the devil?

    Have a good weekend! 🙂

  2. They’re combined into one very confusing little person… Have a good one!

  3. Mark, very funny! That’s the cutest little devil… Thanks for sharing.

  4. Hi Mark,

    Funny … this is the first time I’ve ever heard anyone talk about the devil/angel shoulder conversation specifically.

    But I do know that mergers and acquisitions can put fear into employees. So a little voice of the devil playing on that fear makes sense.

    — Anita

  5. lmao!:D

    The evil speaks and is so true to any business merger situations. There are really a lot of negative thoughts on the employees’ behalf.