Synergy


 * Two Plus Three is Not Always Five **
 * By Si On Kim **

 "For whether I be awake or asleep, two plus three makes five.” Descartes, the father of modern philosophy, based his argument of his existence on this simple arithmetic. Would insanity be a word for someone who dares to challenge this seemingly an absolute assumption? Perhaps the answer is yes, but not after one gains an insight into the meaning, origin, and the usage of the word synergy.

 The word synergy has its origin in the Greek word synergia meaning “working together.” As its root word reflects, synergy means “increased effectiveness, achievement, etc., produced as a result of combined action or co-operation.” To draw a definition from another source, it means “interaction of elements that when combined produce a total effect that is greater than the sum of the individual elements, contributions.” As these two definitions suggest, synergy occurs when a group creates something greater than what could be expected given the skills and abilities of the individual members. To define the word in another way, one could say that synergy is a plus one effect.

 The word is fairly comparable to alliance and union, that are each defined as “a formal agreement or treaty between two or more nations to cooperate for specific purposes” and “the act of uniting two or more things.” The two words are different from synergy in a sense that they are the preconditions that have to take place before the actual extra effect occurs. Other synonyms like unity, harmony, teaming, coaction, and symbiosis alsodo not seem to have the exactly same meanings as synergy, for they also do not directly allude to the increased efficiency that comes from cooperation. Discord and separation, the antonyms of the word that each mean “being apart” and “difference of opinion,” do not also help grab even a slight sense of what synergy is. Therefore, one can conclude that synergy is a very unique word, with no other words that can either replace or even give a slight sense of its meaning. In the same notion, the word extends outside the realm of the English language with its original meaning unchanged and having no other word to replace it. The word takes very similar shapes in different languages. Itis translated to synergia in Italian and Spanish, and to synergie in Dutch, French, and German.

 This unique word was first in print in the English language by P. Henlyn in Historia Quinqu-articularis in 1660: “They speak only of such a Synergie, or cooperation, as makes men differ from a sensless stock, or liveless statua, in reference to the great work of his own conversion.” The meaning of the word has not changed across the history. Nevertheless, the range of the its application has persistently broadened. Following the development of science and the discovery of phenomena at the micro level, the word came to have a scientific meaning: “Combined or correlated action of a group of bodily organs (as nerve-centres, muscles, etc.); hence, in extended use, of mental faculties, of remedies, etc.” Synergy as a scientific term was first used in 1847 by Hannibal Evans Lloyd in an article on the Principles on the Medical Psychology: “The transition to the homogeneous is called irradiation (in motor nerves, synergy,—in sensitive, sympathy).” Also used in eminent works such as Personality&Motivation, Dymaxion World of Buckminster Fuller, Corporate Strategy, and Econ. of Imperialism, the word was continuously expanded to different fields of psychology, geography, business, and economics.

 Synergy can be further explained by comparing Douglas C. Engelbart and Bob Taylor. To make a long story short, Taylor succeeded, and Engelbart did not. The reason has much to do with synergy. Although Engelbart succeeded to make two breakthrough inventions, he was not able to turn his pioneering insight into the first viable personal computer. The success was achieved by the Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), where Bob Taylor worked as the head of computer science lab. The greatest difference between the two people was that Engelbart, who was abandoned by his colleagues who found him difficult, failed to experience synergy within the group, but the latter succeeded to do so. Taylor began his creation of synergy at PARC with recruitment. He looked for people who could work collaboratively, for he believed that collaborative skill was a crucial factor of success in a systems-oriented research that his group was undergoing. He also set mandatory weekly meetings, through which he emphasized the importance of sharing information. By putting the entire group in an environment where each of them made a plus one effect for one another by helping manage information, agreements and disagreements, Taylor led his group to an ultimate triumph.

 Synergy, which makes miraculous advantages particularly for human groups, is lucidly a plus one effect. For now, the exact source of the extra effectiveness has not been identified; one can only make speculations that the secret lies within groups. However, such a thing may not be a primary of importance, now that one can legitimately say “Descartes might be wrong.”

Reference Alliance [Def. 2]. (n.d.). Retrieved September 30, 2013, from []

Bennis, W. G., & Biederman, P. W. (1997). A Computer with a Rebel Heart. InOrganizing genius: The secrets of creative collaboration (pp. 63-86). Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.

Descartes, R., Cottingham, J., & Williams, B. A. (1996). 1. In Meditations on first philosophy (pp. 12-15). New York: Cambridge University Press.

Discord [Def. 2]. (n.d.). Retrieved September 30, 2013, from []

Feuchtersleben, E., & Babington, B. G. (1847). The principles of medical psychology, being the outlines of a course of lectures. London: Sydenham Society.

Synergy [Def. B]. (n.d.). Retrieved September 30, 2013, from http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/196482?redirectedFrom=synergy#eid

<span style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,non-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 2em;">Synergy [Def. C]. (n.d.). Retrieved September 30, 2013, from http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/196482?redirectedFrom=synergy#eid

<span style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,non-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 2em;">Synergy [Def. 1]. (n.d.). Retrieved September 30, 2013, from []

<span style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,non-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 2em;">Thesaurus.com. (2013). Thesaurus.com. Retrieved September 30, 2013, from []

<span style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,non-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 2em;">Union [Def. 1]. (n.d.). Retrieved September 30, 2013, from []