Some how, some way synergy became the grandfather of bad business words. Is it because it has been so overused at meetings and by project managers that us worker bees feel beaten to death by it? Today it seems like it is just raw filler because management needs a word to push us around with.
Synergy is an interaction or cooperation giving rise to a whole that is greater than the simple sum of its parts. The term synergy comes from the Attic Greek word συνεργία synergia from synergos, συνεργός, meaning “working together”.
My husband is a (too) proud Greek man. He can explain how EVERYTHING in life can be proved to be invented, discovered or defined by the Greek people and he is serious! If you have seen the movie “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” that is my husband. (and every day he is proven correct.)
Fast forward to this image below. Here’s a chart showing synergy’s popularity from 1800 through 2000. I entered college in 1978 and the business world in the early 80s (in Silicon Valley) so,Yeah I can safely say I have heard the word “synergy” a lot. Interestingly take a look at the chart below and compare it to the rise of technology. I have a feeling that there is a direct correlation between the two.
This is proof that synergy is a powerful word that has helped push us forward and proof of the power of communication and working together!!
Interestingly I had a Japanese friend in the 80s who used to tell me all the time 1+1 = 3. He did not call it synergy, it was more Japanese witch-crafty stuff but to me that is the best and simplest definition of Synergy that everyone can understand. There is me and there is you and together we make me/you.
Synergy should not be discounted and your future success in business will be contingent on your willingness to get out of your vacuum and talk to others. Mr. Mead has given us peers and we have discussion groups and I have found for the most part it is all lack-luster communication (no offense to anyone). However the other day my partner and I were discussing the woes of a challenge. She gave me a small line of code and said I got this but I don’t have this other thing. That one line of code quickly moved me forward 4 lines of code to a solution. I rushed back and gave her what she was missing. That is such a HUGE example of synergy. This only works if we are willing to share. Even a wrong bit of code can be the catalyst to the solution. It also links to brainstorming, which is defined as more than one person communicating to produce ideas or SOLVE PROBLEMS.
In school is this considered cheating?? I say no!! Mr Mead would never have set us up with partners if he did not want us to SYNERGIZE with each other.
The information and inspiration for this blog post came from Wikipedia, The rise of Synergy , my own head, Mr Mead and Courina Camp, my peer partner.