#DEFINE SYNERGY CODE#

Synergy happens when two or more independent things combine into a whole that’s greater than the sum of its parts. Synergy comes from the Greek word for “working together.” Synergy may not be redeemable as corporate lingo, but it’s a valuable strategy to implement in one’s personal life - allowing you to do more and be more than you otherwise could. It can be a graspable, actionable habit, and a fruitful, effective one at that. Perhaps there is just something about the idea of synergy that lends itself to being described in generalities, and which has made it the perfect rationale for pitching new business strategies that otherwise lack supporting evidence!īut, overused and ambiguous as it often can be, I don’t think synergy should be written off altogether. Even here though, synergy doesn’t emerge as a very distinct and compelling practice.

While Covey describes Synergy in a way that transcends corporate strategy - as embracing differences between people as a spur to creative collaboration - the tips he gives to implement it are largely a vague rehashing of the previous habits, particularly “Think Win/Win.”Ĭovey even admitted as much in his 2011 book The 3rd Alternative, in which he revisits the concept of synergy, and tries to flesh out the details and concrete steps that were previously lacking in The 7 Habits. While Steven Covey helped popularize the buzzword in the mid-90s by making Synergy one of the habits in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, it’s arguably the weakest chapter in the book. It’s not as if the term was originally more meaningful and simply became diluted over time.

#DEFINE SYNERGY CODE#

Sometimes it’s even code for “We’re about to lay people off, but we’ll be able to get more done because.

It’s a word that’s apt to induce an eye-roll these days.įor the past few decades, synergy has been a banal business buzzword - a cliché term used to describe some splashy new initiative that really doesn’t amount to anything more than some corporate merging or bureaucratic reshuffling. Welcome back to our monthly series that summarizes, expands, and riffs on each of the seven habits laid out in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey.

Define synergy