Simply

“The dismal Citigroup news just might make it official: The 1998 marriage of Citicorp and Travelers was a bad idea.

“That seems to be the judgment of the company's shareholders, anyway. On April 3, 1998, the equivalent of what is now Citigroup stock closed at $30.84. That was the last trading day before the blockbuster merger was announced. Investor enthusiasm over the 'financial supermarket' created by the deal… propelled the stock to nearly $60 by 2000.

“With the drubbing Citigroup has taken this year, the stock now trades at less than $27 a share. That means that, poof, those gains are all gone -- and then some...

“This leads us to the inevitable question: Is the landmark combination, which prompted sweeping changes to U.S. banking law, now a contender for a notorious designation?

“The title is a reference to ‘Deals from Hell: M&A Lessons that Rise Above the Ashes,’ a book by our friend Robert Bruner... The book examines such ill-fated deals as the 2000 combination of Internet firm AOL and media conglomerate Time Warner, judging them, in part, by the destruction of shareholder value. We have periodically asked whether other deals, such as that which created the auto maker DaimlerChrysler, also merited this status. Now we turn our attention to Citicorp-Travelers.

“What went wrong? It seems the benefits of being able to meet every financial-client need under the sun, and of balancing weak parts of the business at any given time with strong ones, have been outweighed by a factor that didn't get much ink in all the glowing reviews written when the deal was unveiled: namely, that managing a global colossus and all its attendant risks isn't easy. It is a lesson Mr. Weill's successor as Citi CEO, Charles Prince, learned the hard way.”

(“Deal Journal / Breaking Insight From WSJ.com” Wall Street Journal: January 16, 2008. pg. C.5)

GREAT CONFIDENCE in conventional wisdom may lead one to challenge the mechanics of nature, leading to a fall. Excess self-confidence may lead one to challenge the gods, certainly leading to a fall.

Teachability and knowing ourselves as we truly are lead us toward the power of simple humility.