Habit 6- Synergize

Revisiting an earlier habit, thinking Win/Win is a very important skill. Thinking of a solution in which all involved parties can get exactly what they want is a marvelous feat and is a rewarding experience to work through. You get a fitting and appropriate solution for the problem you entered with. Covey decides to push this further in this chapter and asks “What if you could have more?”

That’s where synergy comes in. Covey describes synergy as miraculous, and defines it as “the whole being greater than the sum of its parts.” For any mathematicians who may be reading, synergy is where 1 + 1 = 3. Where thinking Win/Win will get you something correct, yet predictable, synergy will open up greater possibilities that you may not have thought of previously.

So how do we create this synergy that Covey speaks of so highly? In creating this art, we have to abandon our original plans and, instead, come in with courage, creativity, vulnerability, and understanding. In approaching our problem with this mindset, we open ourselves up to a world of solutions we never thought possible because we are truly communicating and working alongside our fellow men.

For example, Covey writes a story of a classroom in which he taught where the room exploded with synergy, and it ended up being one of the best classes he experienced. It began with one student taking the class lectures and drawing connections to his own life in an open and vulnerable way. This student’s courage to share his story made other students feel safe to share theirs. Eventually the conversation kept building and building into something productive, but totally off course from the original class structure. When presented with this change, Covey abandoned his preconceived plans and allowed the creativity to flow through the synergy created by his students. He could have kept them on course. He could have thought Win/Win and everything would have worked out positively. He would have taught his students, his students would have learned, 1 + 1 would have come out to 2. But, when openness, courage, vulnerability, and creativity were let loose to create synergy, this class ended up becoming more of a learning community. Students in that class met up with each other and with Covey for years to come, still reminiscing about the magic created in that classroom. 1 + 1 came out to 3 there.

I admit, this one can feel like a big risk. I personally am a person who likes to plan and when things go off book, it can really stress me out! When I haven’t planned, I tend to fear what the outcome will be, but this chapter gave copious examples of how veering from the path can be extremely rewarding. Now, this isn’t saying to drop everything and see where the wind takes you. You still want to think of habit 2: begin with the end in mind. Your end goal can remain the same, whether that be to learn something new or to solve a debate or anything in between or outside, but sometimes straying from the road can lead you through wonderful scenery that you’ll be happy you discovered!

References

Covey, Stephen R. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change. Simon & Schuster, 2020.

Lucy M.

Undergraduate Intern 2023

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