In business, synergy is a superpower. It is more than teamwork and connection. It’s more than an aggregate team being greater than the total sum of its individual parts. It happens when the best individual performers (individuals, departments or companies) on a team don’t outperform the overall team’s performance, but rather combine to create something that multiplies and amplifies the talents and perks of each individual exponentially for the betterment of the whole. Synergy is not something that happens regularly or quickly. And sometimes it doesn’t happen at all. So how does synergy happen? And, more importantly, can it be generated intentionally?

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Good companies encourage teamwork but the best companies achieve synergy. What’s the difference? When people join forces and work together, “We” can become more powerful than if each separate, individual “Me” were combined. In other words, one group of 10 can be more effective than 10 individuals. That’s teamwork. But synergy is more than teamwork. According to Bo Hanson, four-time Olympian and Coaching Consultant, “Synergy is the sum of the team being more than the total sum of its individual parts. It is the unique situation where the best individual performance on the team does not outperform the overall team’s performance.” It is where “We” matters more than “Me” and where “Us” multiplies and amplifies the talents of each individual exponentially. Synergy is a superpower to which every company should aspire. But how does a company build synergy?

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Construction of any building requires bricks or concrete blocks as well as mortar to hold the bricks or blocks together. That is true of most edifices, from the pyramids of Egypt to the high rises of Manhattan. This is also true when building a plan for success. Whether it is a business plan or a professional blueprint, it requires not only strong stones but also the mortar to hold it together. College Basketball Coach John Wooden had a series of value propositions he considered the building blocks for success. Last week, we looked at his fifteen stones in his Pyramid of Success. Today, let’s look at the other 10 value propositions he called ‘the mortar’ that holds it all together.

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Success is one of those words that is tossed around a lot. Many have prescriptions for how to be successful. Countless books and articles have been written on the topic. But few who have written about the subject were actually hugely successful because they followed their own formula for success. One of those was U.S. College Basketball Coach John Wooden. Called the greatest college coach ever thanks to a long list of accomplishments, including a record 10 NCAA Basketball Championship titles, Wooden had a series of value propositions that he considered the foundations for success. He followed them and was hugely successful in his career.

So what were those 25 value propositions? Continue reading →