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The Principle of Creative Collaboration
Habit 6: Synergize is about working together to find new solutions to challenging problems. Synergy is when the sum is greater than its parts. It’s often expressed as an equation where 1 + 1 = 3, 10, or 1,000. Think of the ingredients in a recipe coming together to create a dish or each instrument in an orchestra creating a song. That’s synergy.
Synergy isn’t an accident, it’s a habit. There’s a process we can follow to get there. For that process to work, we have to live all the other habits. If we’re reactive, directionless, unfocused, fail to consider what others need, and don’t listen to each other, we’ll never collaborate successfully. We’ll also never get to synergy if we don’t value others’ ideas.
It’s truly valuing differences, instead of just tolerating them, that really drives synergy. The ideas and perspectives of others are what allow us to get outside or normal way of thinking to see the world, and the problems we’re trying to solve together, in a new way.
The Steps to Synergy
These are the steps to make synergy a habit:
- Ask: Are we and the people around us willing to try for something new and different? Not my way or your way, but our way.
- Define: Determine what success looks like—what’s our end in mind?
- Create: Prototype and countertype ideas to explore and see what’s possible.
- Arrive: Discover a 3rd Alternativesolution.
“Synergy is not the same as compromise. In a compromise, one plus one equals one and a half at best.”
Assume responsibility and focus on the things that can be influenced rather than what can’t.
Define clear measures for success and create a plan to achieve them—in the next few hours, over the next few months, or across a lifetime.
Listen, understand, and honor others’ perspectives, and have the courage to express thoughts and feelings respectfully.
Leverage different perspectives to solve problems, innovate, and achieve more than any one individual alone.
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