7 Habits of Highly Effective People Habit of the Week

Habit 6 is Synergize. It is the habit of creative cooperation, in which the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

A highly valued skill for the 21st century is cooperation, the ability to work with like-minded groups of people to achieve new and better solutions. Synergy encourages innovation, invention, and what is known as The Third Alternative. In other words, together we can find a better way.

Diverse perspectives encourage healthy problem solving. Differences are celebrated and respected; they do not divide and fragment. While Habit 4 seeks mutual benefit and compromise, Habit 6 looks for a better, more creative alternative. Synergizing is a creative process that explores new possibilities to benefit everybody.

What does this look like in the classroom? Sometimes it is a group effort to create an art piece or some aspect of a current project. Young learners work together to build things, put puzzles together, and contribute something that is worthwhile to the classroom and community. Synergy is used to present and solve classroom problems and come up with ideas to improve social and emotional communication.

Practicing synergy weaves a strong foundation for further learning and better, more positive communication. Each learner’s unique contribution may have innate value or it might be capable of standing alone. It is difficult at times because using synergy means having a lot of internal security. It often means stepping out of your comfort zone.

The collective efforts bring about something wonderful. New energy and excitement is created and we tend to see things in a new light. Relationships are transformed as we internalize and practice this habit.