Habit 6 Synergy When 1 plus 1 equals More Than 2
0Top o' the Mornin' to Ya!
TLDR: Synergy isn't just a buzzword - it's the spiritual and practical reality that when people come together in their working genius and unified purpose, amazing things happen that create far more value than anyone could achieve alone.
Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, habit six: synergy.
I used to hate that word. Lots of people used to hate it. It got popular probably in the first 10 or 15 years this book has been out, and so many people were like "Oh, synergy this, synergy that" in a negative way. They'd say "I don't believe synergy works. It's not what you think it is."
What?
I think I mentioned it the other day about win-win and how two Clydesdale horses - one plus one can equal more than two. That's actually from this chapter. But synergy is really just getting more out of a connection, out of working together, out of doing something together.
I read another book recently called "The Six Types of Working Genius." It's a fictional story based on reality about a team learning to work together and grow in an agency. The owner was supposed to be the encourager and checker, but he said "I don't like doing that."
They found someone on the team who actually enjoyed going around checking how everybody's doing though it wasn't part of their defined role assignment. They shifted responsibilities around based on each person's top two and bottom two types of the six working genius categories.
Why?
They really created synergy. People didn't have the typical roles matching their titles. Their titles still had their core job responsibilities, but the other responsibilities of being an effective team were shuffled around to the right people. The leader wasn't necessarily the manager.
The person checking on people, the person encouraging - they shifted all that around and said "Hey, in addition to your job, or as part of your job, is this thing that completely lines up with your type(s) of working genius." And they thrived. When you're in your working genius, it's just like "Whoa, that's so cool."
Lesson
That's really where synergy of human interaction comes together. I also think it's a spiritual thing. When two or more are gathered in His name, God is there among them. When we come together in one venture, one "just cause" as Simon Sinek puts it in "The Infinite Game," when we come together for one cause, one direction, amazing things happen.
People rallying is a sign of synergy going on. Energy is a sign of synergy going on. Synergy is above collaboration - it's like the fruit of collaboration. It's way above compromise. Compromise is just "Oh well, yeah we can do that and we'll do that" - that's taking a shortcut. Accepting less.
It should be win-win or no game. It should be win-win or no go. Not gonna happen if we can't get synergy, if we can't create more and better. What's the value in doing what we're doing?
Apply
If it's a marriage, you gotta get it done. You gotta figure it out. God put you together for life. If it's a father-child relationship, you gotta get it right. You gotta figure it out. You gotta get that synergy and realize you're creating a new human being to make that human being bigger and better than yourself.
It can be adversarial at times. There are challenges and things you don't know about, and it's not your fault. Keep watching, keep following God and leading in obedience.
If it's a business or transaction, you gotta find win-win or no go. A win-win's gonna lead to another transaction and another transaction and another transaction. That's synergy for everyone involved. Without win-win the seed of synergy stays dormant or rots away.
I didn't have a good story today, but where's an area where you've experienced awesome synergy? These are the stories that inspire us and inspire people.
Write down a story in the Doobly Doo below - as long or short as you want - about synergy, where something really came together and you got more than you bargained for.
You be blessed!
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If you want to experience the synergy of working alongside other Kingdom Family Leaders who understand your unique challenges and calling, visit https://brian.chat/ to learn about our mastermind groups where iron sharpens iron.
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