I love Habit #6 - Synergize. I think the idea of “creative collaboration” is truly beneficial as a life skill, and the results of synergy can definitely bring about better results than what one person could achieve individually. I generally feel much more energized when working with others to plan lessons or confront challenges at school. It can take additional effort to accept the ideas of others when you’re confident about your own perspective. I know I’ve been guilty of that mindset, just thinking it will be easier to do it myself, or thinking I know best. However, I have found that a definite benefit of working with others to tackle challenging tasks is the range of ideas that can be considered and developed in order to create an effective action plan. As Dr. Pumpian shared -- as a result of valuing differences in others and seeking alternatives, we can achieve better solutions. We've done some lesson studies at my school that have involved some intense conversations, but fortunately my math team has made a commitment to synergize (although we haven't used that word) and we all end up happy with the results of our effort.
I think this habit is also important for a democratic leadership style. Stakeholders need to believe that the school leader is open to new and different ideas in order to invest in the decision making process and develop creative solutions. And the result of that synergy will be “creative collaboration” that leads to a win-win situation.
I’d like to share this habit with my sons using this Synergy Action Plan I found at http://www.slideshare.net/danielleisathome/synergize. I think the procession through the steps makes sense and is explained in a clear, concise way. I think a strong understanding of this habit will help them as they move through their college experience, and engage in more adult interactions in their classes, and I hope they will share experiences they've already had when synergy was beneficial, or when not synergizing was detrimental.
I think this habit is also important for a democratic leadership style. Stakeholders need to believe that the school leader is open to new and different ideas in order to invest in the decision making process and develop creative solutions. And the result of that synergy will be “creative collaboration” that leads to a win-win situation.
I’d like to share this habit with my sons using this Synergy Action Plan I found at http://www.slideshare.net/danielleisathome/synergize. I think the procession through the steps makes sense and is explained in a clear, concise way. I think a strong understanding of this habit will help them as they move through their college experience, and engage in more adult interactions in their classes, and I hope they will share experiences they've already had when synergy was beneficial, or when not synergizing was detrimental.