“Two heads are better than one.”
“None of us is as smart as all of us.”
You have probably heard or said these well-known clichés. Yes, they are true. They are true because of the principle of synergy.
Synergy is the concept that 1 + 1 is greater than two. The sum together is greater than simply adding the parts.
It’s the concept of teamwork.
Here’s the Oxford Dictionary definition:
Let’s illustrate.
When my wife and I make our bed together in the morning, it takes us only about 30 seconds as a team. That’s 60 seconds (30 x 2) of “human power.” If one of us does it alone, by going around and back and forth, it takes more than 60 seconds. In fact, it takes one of us around 90 seconds of “human power.” So with great teamwork, we accomplish MORE (in our case making the bed faster) than we would when each works alone.
Synergy makes great teamwork, at home working together as a family, the workplace, in sports, making music together as a band or orchestra, in faith communities, or in mission driven nonprofits.
Stephen R. Covey, in his classic The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, popularized the concept in his 6th habit: Synergize – Principles of Creative Cooperation.
“Synergy is better than my way or your way. It’s our way.”
Stephen R. Covey
Covey wrote, “The essence of synergy is to value differences – to respect them, to build on strengths, to compensate for weaknesses.” He noted that it is everywhere in nature, where is is usually called symbiosis. He called it the “highest activity in all life – the true test and manifestation of all the other habits put together.”
But the concept is thousands of years old. In the first century, one of the writers of the New Testament, the Apostle Paul, used the human body to illustrate the concept of strength in diversity. He showed that it is in the diversity and unique abilities of our different body parts that makes a powerful and effective “human machine.”
In fact, the human body is not one single part but rather many parts mingled into one. So if the foot were to say, “Since I’m not a hand, I’m not a part of the body,” it’s forgetting that it is still a vital part of the body. And if the ear were to say, “Since I’m not an eye, I’m not really a part of the body,” it’s forgetting that it is still an important part of the body. Think of it this way. If the whole body were just an eyeball, how could it hear sounds? And if the whole body were just an ear, how could it smell different fragrances? But God has carefully designed each member and placed it in the body to function as he desires. A diversity is required, for if the body consisted of one single part, there wouldn’t be a body at all! So now we see that there are many differing parts and functions, but one body.
Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:18-24 TPT
Paul goes on to say that’s how an effective faith community, and by implication for that matter, any mission minded organization, reaps the benefits of diversity and team play.
Impact Players
Liz Wiseman, author of another leadership classic, Multipliers, has just released a great book on the synergy of great teamwork entitled, Impact Players. Based on a study of 170 top contributors from multiple industries around the world, Wiseman identified the mindsets that prevent some people from contributing to their full potential and the five practices that differentiate what she calls “Impact Players:”
- While others do their job, Impact Players figure out the real job to be done.
- While others wait for direction, Impact Players step up and lead.
- While others escalate problems, Impact Players move things across the finish line.
- While others attempt to minimize change, Impact Players are learning and adapting to change.
- While others add to the load, the Impact Players make heavy demands feel lighter.
Wiseman makes clear that these practices—and the right mindset—can help anyone contribute at their fullest and shows leaders how they can raise the level of play for everyone on the team (the real value of true synergy).
What about if synergy is missing from a team?
Patrick Lencioni wrote about that in his book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team.
Here are the 5 dysfunctions he identified that any team leader wants to recognize and solve:
Patrick identified 3 qualities in great team players:
- Humble – a willingness to learn from others.
- Hungry – a hunger to be a lifelong learner.
- Smart – to be what we now know is to be integrated, using both the logic of the left brain and the interpersonal skills and creativity of the right brain together.
What the World Needs
The world needs people in what New York Times columnist and author, David Brooks, calls “thick relationships,” together committed to causes that serve others above self. To work together as synergizing teams of excellence in the fulfilling work of bringing wholeness and healing to a broken world.
In The Second Mountain, Brooks writes,
“Every once in a while, I meet a person who radiates joy. These are people who seem to glow with an inner light. They are kind, tranquil, delighted by small pleasures, and grateful for the large ones. These people are not perfect. They get exhausted and stressed. They make errors in judgment. But they live for others, and not for themselves. They’ve made unshakable commitments to family, a cause, a community, or a faith. They know why they were put on this earth and derive a deep satisfaction from doing what they have been called to do.”
The Second Mountain: The Quest for a Moral Life by David Brooks
This is our mission at IHTC – to serve those who are stuck on their first mountain of self-serving ego, success and happiness, and to light a path to a second mountain of yielded humility and a warm web of interdependent relationships. And together to be difference makers in our corner of the planet.
Whatever is your barrier to your second mountain, reach out to a mentor, pastor, physician, nurse practitioner, or friend who can help you find a guiding light on your path for the next step.
Compassionately,
