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Synergy, The Power of the Flock

Written by: Sam Allman

Article Overview: What happens when a group of players with mediocre talent outperforms a team of superstars? Just because you have a group of players playing together doesn’t mean they’re a team. “It’s easy to get the players. Getting them to play together, that’s the hard part,” said Casey Stengel, the former great New York Yankee manager.

Synergy, The Power of the Flock

How many remember this year’s Super Bowl? A team that had won fewer games out-played the team that had won more games and was supposedly filled with superior talent. Was it just a matter of “any team can beat any team on any given day? What about that USA Hockey team filled with amateurs that won the gold medal in the 1980 Winter Olympics? They beat the Soviet team that was filled with professional hockey players and super stars. How did Pat Riley get the New York Knicks, with one super star, Patrick Ewing, and average players, to play consistently well enough all year to earn a spot in the NBA finals? And why couldn’t the Los Angeles Lakers, who had the best players money can buy, win the NBA championship before Phil Jackson arrived.

What happens when a group of players with mediocre talent outperforms a team of superstars? Just because you have a group of players playing together doesn’t mean they’re a team. “It’s easy to get the players. Getting them to play together, that’s the hard part,” said Casey Stengel, the former great New York Yankee manager.

What happens when a so-called team becomes a real team? What happened when Coby Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal started playing together with their other teammates, with the common goal of winning the NBA championship? What happened is a phenomenon called synergy. Dr. Louis Tartaglia, author of the Great Wing and Flawless, calls it “inexplicable synergy.” You see synergy is not logical.

Synergy is where 1+ 1 = 3. Now if I had ever told my grammar teacher that 1+1 = 3, I’d still be in grammar school, unless, of course, they would have thrown me out when I started shaving. Synergy is defined as “the simultaneous action of separate individual parts, which together produce more, a greater effect than any one of the parts alone.”

In his book, The Great Wing, my friend Dr. Louis Tartaglia (He has his friends call him Dr. T) tells the story of Gomer, the goose, who participates in a migration south for the winter with his fellow geese. The migration south by a flock of geese is a typical example of synergy. Geese flying in a “V” formation, with “Flocked Mind,” can fly 72% further than a single goose by himself. “Flocked Mind” is the focus on the common purpose of the team. It’s not what you get from the team, it’s what you give for the benefit of team and the purpose. You’ve heard it before, there is no “I” in team. The focus is on the common goal or purpose, “The Flocked Mind.”

Why do we produce more? Sometimes, it is inexplicable. But what happens is “Teams create synergy where people cover each other’s weaknesses and the team is stronger than the sum of its parts.” Ken Blanchard, coauthor of the One Minute Manager, says that “none of us is as smart as all of us.”
I teach in my training seminars that everything is about results. I believe that we owe it to ourselves, our families and our employees to get the most out of everything we do. It’s about “optimal results.” Great leaders bring about optimal results through synergy. It’s amazing when the chemistry between players becomes just right and optimal results are achieved. Stephen Covey teaches that in every relationship, or team endeavor, the most effective people synergize to get the most benefit, or optimal results for all parties concerned.

The big question is, in your business or your family, have you created the “flocked mind’? Are your employees, and salespeople working together for the common goal of pleasing the customer? When I consult with businesses, I find that often times there is tension between employees and salespeople, salespeople and customer service. What would happen if you “got them to play together?” Casey Stengel said that that was the hard part.

A team is defined as group of individuals who are committed to achieving common goals; who meet regularly to identify and solve problems; who work and interact effectively together; and who produce optimal economic and motivational results.

The power of synergy became apparent to me when I was asked to facilitate a training session for a business in Saginaw, Michigan. The owner and his sons, felt that if they could get their “so-called team” working together, their customers would be more loyal customers and profitability would increase. In our group discussions, I observed some exciting potential as employees and sales people began to talk to each about how they could better work together instead of against each other. Communication and focusing on the “Flocked Mind will begin to build that bond of trust that leads to “inexplicable synergy.”

The trouble is that developing synergy is a process, not an event. Trust is an integral part of synergy. Trust is not built on one event. Trust takes time. “Trust takes years to build, but only seconds to destroy.” Since trust is not built over night, have you started in your business or in your family to create “the Flocked Mind?” Are your players are committed to the team and company goals? Do they share responsibility for the team’s success? Do they participate in setting goals and solving problems. Do they encourage and support the other members? Are they frank and open with you and each other? Do they complete action items on time? Do they contribute knowledge and abilities to the company and team goals? And do they act as advocates for the team?

Don’t under-estimate the power of the flock. The “Flocked Mind” creates results and power because of “inexplicable synergy.” Remember, the acrostic for the word team, together everyone accomplishes more. “Never doubt the power of a small group of committed people to change the world. That’s about the only way it has ever happened in the past.”

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Article Tags: 1980 winter olympics, casey stengel, coby bryant, grammar school, grammar teacher, los angeles lakers, mediocre talent, migration south, nba championship, nba finals, new york knicks, new york yankee, patrick ewing, professional hockey players, shaquille o neal, simultaneous action, soviet team, tartaglia, usa hockey team, winter olympics



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