The Byproduct of Synergy

You may (or may not) have noticed that my patience has decreased — and my frustrations have increased —   the closer we get to the holidays.  I wish I could say that I was a rare find, but (sorry to say) I find that more and more people are in my frame of mind than those in the “holiday spirit.”

I want to change that in myself; therefore, I’m stepping off my ranting soapbox… at least for today… to think only good thoughts… pleasant thoughts… happy thoughts.  The thoughts that come to mind are…
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Well, nothing’s come to mind yet, so I’ll give you an update on our book projects…

The Holiday Season has slowed everything and everyone down, so I’ve been entertaining myself with creating audio/mp3 files for the children’s book. 

Yes, I know that I introduced myself as the “writer” and Katherine as the “speaker.”  

Yes — of course, Katherine would be better at recording the children’s book.  She has more talent in this area than I do but not the time to do it; I have the time, but not as much talent in this area as she does.

Yes — of course, that’s the whole reason behind picking a partner that brings talents that you lack to the collective table. 

And yes — that’s what synergy is all about.  Synergy encompasses the idea that a cohesive group of two or more can come together, and that group can outperform the individual members.  The group becomes greater than the sum of its parts, where 1+1=3… and not just 2.

And yes — the collection of various talents of a team will produce an overall better result than if each person worked on her or his own.

BUT… the byproduct of synergy is that the members learn and grow in fashions that they never would have, if they weren’t part of the group.  Each member learns from each other, becoming more rounded, more capable, and more flexible because of the interaction with the other members.

Synergy doesn’t create a group of people dependent on each other to finish a product.  It creates a group of people who can independently stand on their own but choose to share and exchange their resources with each other. 

So, if I want to grow, I can’t simply hold onto the idea that “I’m the writer and Katherine’s the speaker.”  I can't use those job descriptions as a crutch, become totally dependent on her schedule, and wait for Katherine to have the time to devote to this project.

If I want to grow, I have to push myself out of my comfort zone and dive into the speaking/recording aspect of this project.

Even if all I get out of this is the practice (and from that, the self-confidence) of doing voice and editing work, I’ve grown in areas that I wouldn't have had otherwise.  That’s not a bad thing… not a bad thing at all!

So, I’ve been entertaining myself with creating audio/mp3 files for the children’s book. 

I would read a chapter out loud, record it on my computer, and then work on the editing portion to get something that would sound passable to the human ear.  Of course, it’s late at night when I work on this, so by the end of the sessions, I would consider what I’ve recorded impressive, especially coming from me.  

Then, a week later — in the light of day and with fresh ears — after doing 15 chapters or more, I go back and listen to the first chapters and shock myself, “Good Greif!  I can’t believe I thought that was good!”

Well, back to the drawing board… or recording room…

Yep, my supervisor has nothing to worry about.  I’m not quitting my day job over any of this... 




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