Cultural Synergy

Synergy contributes to the effectiveness and success of organizations by fostering collaboration between different individuals or groups toward a common cause or goal.  “Synergy is about taking the talents of each individual in the organization and combining them into something greater” (Penn State University, 2018, para. 1).  Synergy begins with individuals and then extends to groups and organizations, and in some cases countries (Morgan, Abramson, & Morgan, 2014, p. 266).  Synergy is important because it contributes to a better future or achieving a goal.  “Global leaders actively create a better future through synergistic efforts with fellow professionals” (Morgan, Abramson, & Morgan, 2014, p. 291).

An important piece of creating synergy is the individual.  “A challenge global leaders experience today is how to influence across cultures and functions the individuals with whom they work” (Morgan, Abramson, & Morgan, 2014, p. 288).  Creating synergy is one way to resolve conflict and build success within organizations and groups.  However, what if the leader of a specific group is causing the conflict and other individuals that report to the leader are unable to inspire others due to the leader’s leadership style?  “In general a leader who wants to successfully prevent conflict from harming the organization will create a process that encourages teamwork, provides resources to encourage strong communication, and allows for open discussion of ideas” (Penn State University, 2018, para. 3).  What if there are individuals that want to create synergy and want to encourage teamwork and strong communication but are overshadowed by their top leader that does do or want that?  How is success and working toward a common goal created in a situation such as this?  This is a situation that I have experienced in the workplace and also a situation that I think we see a lot in our world today.  How do we overcome this and create synergy?

In dealing with such situations, taking steps that have been successful in the past are a good start.  Some steps are seeking help, being prepared, being willing to deal with key people in the dispute, understand the business, commit to learning, tell the truth, and never despair (Moran, Abramson, & Moran, 2014, p. 278-9).  Finding ways to deal with leaders that do the opposite of creating synergy is a challenge that I personally would like to know more and learn more about for success in creating a better future for me and the goals I set out to achieve.

References

Moran, R. T., Abramson, N. R., & Moran, S. V. (2014). Managing Cultural Differences. (9^th ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.

Penn State University. (2018). Lesson 06: Cultural synergy. Retrieved from https://psu.instructure.com/courses/1942644/modules/items/24935399.