subject: Engagement and Synergy: A Marriage Made for Innovation [print this page] Engagement and Synergy: A Marriage Made for Innovation
The driest place on earth is in South America. The Chilean dessert of Atacama is on the western cost of Chile and spans 600 miles. There are many reasons for this strange meteorological anomaly but that is not the real story. The real story is that life thrives in this dessert. Why? It's because of the interaction and synergy between the cool water and the hot air of the dessert.
Each morning the cool water in the Pacific at the 24th parallel creates a cool breeze that drifts over the warm sun dried land of the Atacama. A thick fog is created and settles on the arid sun baked land. The cacti and other plants serve as hosts for the moisture in the fog and it condenses on the plants. The plants absorb it and the animals drink it up off the outside of these hosts just before it is either consumed or evaporates.
Rain hasn't fallen on this dessert in any measurable amount since measurements were started yet life thrives. Without rain life still exists. Why? The interaction between the cool water, the hot air, and heated earth create moisture that is shared by all. This is a great metaphor for how an effective leader and a successful organization can operate.
Often leaders and employees have opposite personalities yet they must work together to solve problems. They can choose to be in conflict and avoid each other or they can choose to optimize their communications to create synergy. By creating quality interactions between two people of oppose styles new ideas can emerge that were never expected.
Synergy is cooperative interactions between two or more people (or objects) that result in solutions or ideas that would have been impossible if the individuals tried to create them on their own. Synergy produces innovation.
On its own, the cool water could not create fog. On its own, the hot air or earth could not sustain life. Together they can create an environment that does both.
Too often leaders use talent management alone to create innovation. Improving the quality of individuals alone will not create synergy. Improving the quality of interactions between people is more important and that should be the focus of a great leader.
Stop trying to improve your individual employees. Instead focus on improving the quality of how they interact. Miracles can happen.
