Hi, David -great post:)

I was immediately reminded of an insight I received yesterday in a coaching class.  We were put into teams and challenged to create a teaching moment for the entire class on the use and value of planning questions in the coaching process we are learning.  No rules or structure - we were free to use whatever means we wanted as a team to get across the points.    We had 30 minutes to work together online to do this.

I work solo most of the time and am usually in a leadership role with teams when I am on one.  I also like to take my time and perfect whatever presentation I am giving - although I can wing it, I prefer to have all my ducks in neat rows for comfort.

In the team interaction, I had no choice but to move quickly, go with the flow, and things worked nicely.   Here are some quick learnings from our effort:

1)  I am not the only person in the world who can create an interactive and visually appealing PowerPoint presentation.
2)  When everyone contributes, the end results may not look like any one person's contribution, but it embodies all our thinking.
3)  A team can produce as well (or maybe even better) than I can on my own.

Synergy is one of those words that sometimes sounds like New Age Babblespeak,  but when you experience the power of working together in a group to accomplish a goal, it becomes a goal for every interaction.

Thanks again for your thoughtful reinforcement of the power of synergy for us all.

John