Covey’s habit 6: Synergize [How to be an Original]
This post is part of habits Tuesdays.
This habit is about creation and creativity. Synergy as defined by the dictionary is:
syn·er·gy
- The interaction of two or more agents or forces so that their combined effect is greater than the sum of their individual effects.
- Cooperative interaction among groups, especially among the acquired subsidiaries or merged parts of a corporation, that creates an enhanced combined effect.
Synergy is the ability to create more together with others than we can by ourselves. But if you paid attention, we already achieved that with Habit 4: Think Win-Win. True, but habit 6 takes it a little (or a league) further.
Synergize, a mindset of unlimited potential
In earlier habits we already talked about abundance and the power of visualizing. Synergize is the mindset to get there. We have to acknowledge the concept that the sum is more than its parts. And if applied correctly there’s a major multiplier. Synergy takes the win-win cliché of 1 + 1 = 3 a level further 1 + 1 = 20 or 100 or 1,000 or … And if 1 + 1 gets you that far, realize what synergy would do if you add more to that.
There are numerous examples of this phenomenon, Covey describes a couple of them. About two politicians being able to get a million voters each, but 2.5 million together. Or about two people both too short to pick apples from a tree, but as a team with one on the shoulders of the other can pick a lot of apples. The first example looks like a variant of the classic 1 + 1 = 2.5 equation. But the second one is an example between a couple of apples each or no apples at all, and that’s quite a synergetic effect.
Celebrate the differences
If there’s something you have to do to get the most out of this habit, it’s acknowledging that there are differences between people, and that these differences are there to celebrate! The paradigm shift in this habit focuses around differences, they’re not annoying, they’re very precious. The moment you realize this is wonderful, and you recognize the hidden value in it. It makes you wonder why you burnt all that energy on fighting differences, when there’s so much to gain from acknowledging them.
I learned this while we where renovating our current house. It happened when I had worked all day to paint most walls and the ceiling from our living room. I was nearly done, and satified with all the work I had done, and the improvement it turned out to be. My wife came in and started by pointing out all the spots I had missed!! Now I’m the type of person that likes to hear acknowledgment for a job well done, and I get this…it makes my blood boil. I took a deep breath…
But in that moment I suddenly recognized a NLP concept I had just read about. It’s about Matchers and Mismatchers. Matchers focus on what’s there, they seek parallels. Mismatchers on the other hand focus on what’s not there, they seek differences. Then and there it struck me that I was a Matcher, and that my wife was a Mismatcher. She just acted upon what she saw instantly, and the beauty of it, that was exactly the part I had trouble seeing. Synergy was about to happen, be it with a trivial thing as painting a wall.
Synergy was only there because of mindset, at that moment even a change in mindset for me. In retrospect it was habits working at high speed, creating a pause to choose a response, taking the end (a great looking living room) in mind, thinking win-win (both the great result and no fight 
) and I wanted to understand why my wife was saying this. Having read about the concept just a couple of days ago helped too of course…
When to use this habit
Unlike the other habits I find it difficult to actively practice this habit. It’s more a mindset that proves its value in certain situations, it’s not that I walk around in a synergetic mood day in day out. That would be annoying right?
“Oh I spot a difference here, let’s investigate how we can multiply our individual value to create a joint value far greater than we can achieve!”.
This mindset is very useful when you feel you’re about to get into a conflict situation. I have some experience with it now, and it really works! But like I said, I’m not high vibing on synergy all day long, but that could also be an immaturity in implementing the habit
Next week the last habit: Sharpen the saw
Previous posts in this series:
Habit 1 Be proactive
Habit 2 Being with the end in mind
Habit 3 First things first
Habit 4 Think Win Win
Habit 5 Seek first to understand then to be understood
Can’t wait? You can buy Covey’s book The 7 habits of highly effective people at Amazon, or as an audiobook here. There’s also an audiobook on this habit alone.
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Original post here: Lodewijkvdb
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