Welcome to the latest installment of the series on how to implement the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People in a Getting Things Done-style system. This series of posts will guide you through the stages of personal implementation over several weeks. This will give you a chance to focus on each new habit in your life for one full week before beginning the next one. For those of you that have not read Stephen Covey’s landmark book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, here is a brief synopsis of the sixth habit:

Synergize describes a way of working in teams. Apply effective problem solving. Apply collaborative decision making. Value differences. Build on divergent strengths. Leverage creative collaboration. Embrace and leverage innovation. It is put forth that when synergy is pursued as a habit, the result of the teamwork will exceed the sum of what each of the members could have achieved on their own. “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts”.

Habit VI - Synergize

This is the penultimate step in creating a pattern of effectiveness in your life. As the third pillar of the Public Victory, Synergy is the structure that makes interdependence such a powerful lever for increasing your personal productivity and success. Stephen Covey compares the Sixth Habit of Highly Effective People to a math equation where 1 + 1 = 3, or more!

Creative Cooperation in Context

The goal of Synergy is to maximize the value of the varied contributions that parts of a system make to the whole. There are two ways that each part leverages maximum value:

1. Building on the strengths of each team member.
2. Shoring up, or compensating for, their weaknesses.

Synergy is the cooperative relationship between the individual units, team members, or ingredients that becomes an integral part of the grouping, thus making the whole greater that the sum of its parts. By working together creatively, the group is able to accomplish more or become more effective than any of the individual components could working on their own.

Participation and Engagement

In Habit 4 we discussed the principles of Win/Win and in Habit 5 we discussed the importance of creating Understanding in Communication. The habit of Synergy takes these two concepts and increases their power by creating an environment of participation. The Win/Win concept becomes a motive for working together toward a common goal, or finding value in different goals and working to reconcile them.

Interacting with understanding becomes the method for this increased level of participation. Creating this synergy can be a difficult process as it requires a new mind-set from all of the participants; it requires a new level of engagement and an atmosphere of safety in which to operate. Seeing this in action becomes its own reward, as the participants become engaged in the process of creation.

Creativity, innovation, and true teamwork can soar to previously unknown levels of effectiveness when the participants are willing and empowered to capture the power of Synergy. Some factors that influence this process positively are:

• Trust
• Openness
• Transparency
• Mutual respect
• Recognition of contributions
• Camaraderie
• Authenticity

On the other hand, a highly competitive environment will have a stifling effect on the growth of Synergy. This competition between team members can actually work in the opposite direction - reducing the effectiveness of those participants that are not motivated by the competition or the reward. Other factors that can have a negative effect on the Synergy of engagement are:

• Poor communication
• Lack of understanding
• Undefined roles
• Not having clear goals
• Inexperienced leadership
• “Political” maneuvering
• Perfectionism
• Personal value conflicts

“Vision begins with one person, but it is only accomplished by many people.” ~John C. Maxwell

Creating this atmosphere of trust and engagement is likely to be one of the most challenging tasks that you can undertake. It can also be the most rewarding. Most of the people that we work with every day are starving for a chance to make a larger contribution, achieve greater goals, be a part of something bigger than themselves. Living and teaching the habit of Synergy is your contribution to being part of something bigger than yourself.

Practical Applications

In order to develop the habit of Synergy, the most important step is to get beyond the “Us vs. Them” state of mind. You, and the people that you work with, must begin to think in terms of “We”. Once again the emotional bank account becomes a measure of your progress, and your personal sincerity is the currency that you will be depositing.

Without sincerity, the other parts of your system and members of your team may not trust you enough to participate and engage. It will look cynical and manipulative!

There is an old expression, “A rising tide lifts all boats“. Think about this analogy:

How much more can be accomplished if you could focus your efforts on applying your strengths to preparing all of the boats for the rising tide? If everyone on your team worked on the tasks that they are best at, and everyone helped each other at those tasks where they do not excel?

How often do you find yourself struggling to channel all of the water into your own little portion of the harbor? What kind of victory is it if it comes at the expense of the others on your team or in your organization?

Life is not a zero-sum game. Apply these exercises the next time you are in a meeting, a planning session, or encounter a situation that is stuck on competition. In the sincere expression of trust, these tools can be used to generate a spirit of cooperation and participation:

• Identify the common traits of the competing forces, ideas, problems/solutions.
• Open a Brainstorming discussion on the differences, search for an alternative resolution.
• Be careful not to take over but to facilitate.
• Solicit Win/Win scenarios and solutions from all of the participants.

Valuing the Differences

People see the world through their own eyes. The differences between people - mental, social, spiritual, economic, and so on - color this perception of the world. The hardest part to understand for many of us is that these perceptions are not wrong. Though different, everyone is right about how they see the world, their problems, and their opportunities. Capturing the value of these differences is the essence of Synergy.

Building the Habit

Here is a short list of activities that will help you administer and adjust to your new habit. These activities are:

• Think about a person close to you (at work or personally) who sees things differently than you do. Write down some ways that these differences could be used as starting points for finding alternative solutions.
• Identify a situation which could benefit from increased engagement and Synergy. What factors need to change in order to promote this cooperation? What can you do to change these factors? Who can you enlist to assist you in making changes?
• Pick a small project (at home or at work) that you can start from scratch in an atmosphere that promotes Synergy. Keep the number of team members small and use all of the skills that you have learned so far:
  1. Be Proactive: Create a new environment of trust
  2. Begin with the end in mind: The Synergy of the group will produce an amazing result that everyone can learn from
  3. Put first things first: Value the differences
  4. Think Win/Win: Creating the new atmosphere of cooperation and participation is a win for all
  5. Seek first to understand, then be understood: Accepting differences in points of view is the key to successful understanding

Please let me know if you have any questions or need some help. There is no worksheet this week, you didn’t miss the download link. For review, here are all of the previous posts in the series:

• Habit One - Be Proactive
• Habit Two - Begin with the End in Mind
• Habit Three - Put First Things First, part I
• Habit Three - Put First Things First, part II
• Habit Four - Think Win/Win
• Habit Five - Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood