Advancing Business by Enhancing Synergy

The following is a summary of a talk I gave at the International Conference on Social Entrepreneurship, Business and Management Studies (SEBMS) Dubai, UAE, December 14-15.

The strong desire for corporate America, or for a start-up for that matter, to stay ahead of the competition demands that solutions are found to complex problems quickly. One approach to tackle this would be that team members with appropriate yet diverse skillsets merge to create synergies based not on ‘best hiring practices’ but on a mutual desire to solve problems. In order to understand the implications of creating present-day synergistic teams, it is interesting to note that group synergy may have had its start as early as 1727 in the US, initiated by Benjamin Franklin and his volunteer group, Junto.

Harnessing his natural desire for building up his own personal social and intellectual capital, Franklin populated Junto with people of varying backgrounds and professions for the purpose of learning and self-improvement. The meetings were reported to be positive and cordial and centered on questions that Franklin developed. Present-day Junto organizations exist such as The Junto Institute for Entrepreneurial Leadership in Chicago or CoIN, a web-based social networking organization that promotes open collaboration within and outside organizations.  Today, globalization coupled with multiple forms of communication have given way to teams having the ability to rapidly organize in a seemingly organic way for the purpose of finding solutions free from the interference of managers.

Creating teams that are synergistic, where, “strengths lie in differences, not in similarities” (Covey, 2004), can be challenging in an established company, in contrast to a start-up where familiarity among team members may have started organically. Regardless of how or where the team assembled, the reality is that for solutions to difficult problems to come about, it is crucial for managers to understand how personal synergy develops.  

In order to identify a starting place where synergy can take root, effective managers should know as much about the composition of personalities populating a team as possible. In addition, team members need to honestly learn about themselves. Encouraging openness in the workplace can help establish a new collaborative environment centered on interconnectedness. Diverse people who bring differing mindsets to the group need to be carefully managed so as to cooperatively build solutions through an environment of trust. Individually, one person who does not match the energy, purpose, desire, and passion of the group can be a detriment; and similarly, one member of the team cannot be a predictor of positive outcomes. It is the combined mix of the right individuals where proper ‘chemistry’ is formed that results in innovative solutions to challenging problems. Leaders of teams need to understand the psychological aspects of synergy for team composition and to become better facilitators.

Building the right culture that attracts the most talented and motivated employees requires management to demonstrate the qualities of extroversion and conscientiousness. These positive and motivating traits help to connect an individual with a company’s culture from which synergies can develop and grow. Other attributes such as enthusiasm for one’s work and the ability to stay on course until a goal is completed can also help achieve a firm’s objectives.

From a marketing and sales perspective, the emphasis should be less on the 49-year old version of the ‘Four P’s’ — Product, Price, Promotion, and Place — where the focus was on market dominance. Today, the emphasis is on Purpose, People, Personalization, and Perception, where the key question is, does your product offering matter? If employees care and genuinely believe in the value of their team and its work while embracing why they are doing it, customers will believe it too and consequently buy into the company’s culture and its products or services. One example of this relates to Steve Jobs and the rise of the iPhone. Early adopters fervently believed in Apple and stood in line for hours to be among the first to own the phone even though other companies had developed similar technologies. However, now with Jobs gone and new model iPhones containing only small technological advantages over their predecessors, the lines are gone.

The challenge for existing companies is to look to their culture to see if they are standing still or moving ahead. Do they have the capacity for change? What are companies doing to spark innovation from within? Might they have internal ‘business competitions’ centered on a problem or perceived gap in the marketplace? The speed that business must adapt and the speed with which customers purchase products on the internet is astounding. More than ever, companies need to be customer-centric otherwise they will suffer from the power of social media to make or break a brand. Although not a panacea, developing a plan to incorporate synergy into a firm can save money in personnel and serve to build a corporate community that is responsive, interconnected, humane, sustainable, and profitable.