1. The Synergistic
Adventures
Traveling Through the
7 Synergy Steps

2. What is Synergy?
• What do you think?
• Do you think your clan has had it?
• Do you think your clan can have it?
Knights of the Orientation

3. What is Synergy?
“Energies coming together to produce something whole that
is different from or more desirable than the sum of its
constituent parts.” - Rebecca Chan Allen (2002)
A+B=C
1+1=3
∴ Requires more than one person (ie. a team)
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4. Relevance of Teamwork
• You’re part of a TEAM • Organizational move
of OL’s towards self-directed
• Your Clan is a TEAM teamwork
(rather than a group) • Applicable to school
groupwork
Is it about more than just performance?
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5. Groups & Teams
• Can be a pain • Can do more
– Your story… – Your story…
Paradox?
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6. Leading
Leaderless Teams
“A person provides leadership when they do
something that helps a group or organization
achieve its goals or increase its effectiveness.”
- Bushe (2001)
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7. Functional Teams
Good team relationships Bad team relationships are:
are: – Unreasonable
– Trusting – Unreliable
– Caring – Unfair
– Helpful – Selfish
– Open – Threatening
– Honest – Inflexible
– Respectful
“Positive” Climate? “Negative”
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8. Our Offer to You
You have a dangerous and difficult journey ahead…
What it is and isn’t:
• It is not a promise of synergy
• It is a process/tool that can help us get there!
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9. So Let’s Get Started!

10. The 7 Synergy Steps
Task & rules explained
0) Solitudes - be alone, think, develop
distinctiveness.
1) Attract Solitudes - come into a circle… CIRCLE!
2) Create Common Ground - establish team vision,
goals, & mission.
3) Accentuate Distinctiveness - share your
experience as a solitude.
I. 3 seconds between
II. Be open, appreciate the contribution
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11. The 7 Synergy Steps
4) Dissolve Boundaries - facilitator will point your
team in the right direction and then gently push
you through
5) Proliferating Resources &
6) Journeying into the Unknown.
I. Maintain a positive climate
7) Creation of New Possibilities - facilitator
will find your team at this point. Recognize that
something special has happened!
CELEBRATE!
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12. From Rebecca Chan Allen’s
Guiding Change Journeys (2002)
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