Habit 6- Synergize.

Synergy means that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. In other words, each of the parts combine to create new and exciting unexpected discoveries that were not possible before. It is a creative force of unparalleled power created in the principles of creative cooperation.

Synergy is the true test and manifestation of all the other habits combined.

When you communicate synergistically, you are opening your mind and heart to new possibilities, new alternatives and new options. You create something entirely new that is better than you ever thought it could be. This is the very essence of team spirit. When you work along synergetic lines, you can never be sure where the final result will lie. The only thing you can be certain of is that the end result of applying this method will truly justify the means. You literally can achieve more as a combined group than you ever could alone. Whole new worlds of insights, new perspectives, new paradigms leading to new options and alternatives are opened to your vision.

An activity like working on a mission statement should be undertaken in a synergetic environment. This requires a high level of both trust and cooperation amongst all participants. In fact, mutual trust is a key. If trust is low, the activity is dominated by legal jargon in order to protect everyone’s interests. In a medium level of trust, there is respectful communication with polite intellectual compromises in effect. However, the most creative situations arise when there exists an environment where the solutions are far better than either party could ever have achieved alone.

Synergy draws its energy and its effectiveness from the differences between people – mental, emotional and psychological differences all contribute. It is this combination of individual paradigms that make the synergetic process so powerful. When we value the differences in perception that exist between people, we are able to transcend the limits created. If two people are of the same opinion, one is unnecessary. Synergy can also be used to deal with negative forces working against growth and change. Any current level of performance is actually a state of equilibrium between the driving forces (positive, logical, conscious or economic) encouraging upward movement and the restraining forces that discourage it (negative, emotional, illogical or unconscious). Increasing the driving forces will bring results for a time, but the application synergy both increases the driving forces and decreases the restraining forces. Synergy is the result of applying all the previous habits. It cannot be built except on a foundation established by Habits 1 to 6. It can exist in a teamwork environment with other people or you can be personally synergetic in your own actions.

“We have committed the Golden Rule to memory; let us now commit it to life.”

— Edwin Markham