How to Tap the Synergy of the Right Company (Pt. 1)

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Synergy has produced a lot of marvels we’ve seen in life. It’s a key success factor. It has caused many technological revolutions and business transformations to take place in our world. From Microsoft, Netflix, Google, Facebook, Twitter, to WhatsApp, it has been the story of unique services created by the synergies of the people listed below.


Microsoft had been the world’s largest software maker by revenue until overtaken by Alphabet/Google. It was founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen in 1975.

Netflix, the world’s leading Internet entertainment service, was created by the synergy of Marc Randolph and Reed Hastings, who founded it in 1997.

Google, the world’s best search engine, was founded by Larry Page and Sergrey Brin in 1998.

Facebook, the world’s largest social network, was founded by Mark Zuckerberg, Dustin Moskovitz, Eduardo Saverin, and Andrew McCollum in 2004.

Twitter, a major microblogging and social networking service in the world, was launched by Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass, Biz Stone, and Evan Williams in 2006.

WhatsApp, a widely-used text and voice messaging app, was launched by Brian Acton and Jan Koum in 2009. We can go on and on.

The impact of these services in business, education, governance, research, communication, and individual lives, can’t be overemphasized. Synergy has made all these possible.

Synergy is simply the creation of a unity of forces - a whole - that is greater than the simple sum of its parts. Cambridge Dictionary defines it as “the combined power of a group of things when they are working together that is greater than the total power achieved by each working separately.”


According to Business Dictionary, it is “a state in which two or more things work together in a particularly fruitful way that produces an effect greater than the sum of their individual effects.”

In essence, synergy means that the value and performance of two or more persons combined will be greater than the sum of the separate individual persons. In business, it’s a term that is most commonly used in the context of mergers, acquisitions, strategic partnership, joint venture, franchise, and so on. 

Steven Covey explains that “Synergy is what happens when one plus one equals ten or a hundred or even a thousand! It's the profound result when two or more respectful human beings determine to go beyond their preconceived ideas to meet a great challenge.”


How a buffalo used the synergy of company to escape from lions on land and crocodiles in the river

Recently, I watched a video that really brought alive the power of synergy in going forward. A buffalo was pursued by many lions. When it realized that they were going to catch up with it, the buffalo ran into a nearby river.

Buffalos are large hoofed mammals with an imposing pair of horns on their heads. They use the horns to defend themselves. Some buffalos are as tall as 5.5 ft. at the shoulder, and can weigh up to 2,000 lbs.

As the escaping buffalo swamp into the river, a big crocodile was waiting for it there; it began to attack it in the water. What a problem! Lions were waiting on land for the buffalo, a crocodile, perhaps more than one, was making its life more miserable in the water, a place it thought was the way out of the great danger up there on land.

Face to face with two great dangers with dire consequences, the buffalo decided to leave the water and go upland again, where the lions were still waiting for it. They began to enclose it, but the buffalo was using its horns to also chase the lions away. Upland, it sighted other buffalos, and so kept running upwards them while still trying to keep the carnivorous animals and wild beasts at bay.

Finally, it came to where a herd of other buffalos was waiting, and all of them began to move away from the dangerous killers. On seeing a great company of the buffalos, the lions went away and the endangered buffalo was back into safety.

The lions went away because they saw that they couldn’t withstand the combined energy or multiplied force of the buffalos. Engaging the power of synergy kept the buffalo from death and destruction in the hands and teeth of the hungry-looking lions.

If the buffalo didn’t go for combined effort, it would have been overpowered and feasted upon by the lions. What makes lions the king of the forest is that they most often move and attack other animals in prides or groups. Lions work together as a pride to attack and kill. It’s only a few of them that are individual hunters.

How to build and exploit synergy for personal and corporate success

(1) Identify with people of core values: It takes core values to sustain synergy. Therefore, team up with friends, business associates, and vision partners that have strong values. I explain in my eBook, Extraordinary Leadership Today, that “values are the basic and fundamental beliefs, ideals, and standards that guide, regulate and motivate our attitudes and actions.”

I also state in another eBook, Best Business & Investment Opportunities, that “If principles of success are the building blocks of success, vision and mission the pillars, then your core values are the foundation of any success you may be trying to build.” It makes no sense to team up with a person who is so deficient in values.

(2) Have a strong desire to share the difficulty: Have a burning burden concerning the difficulties society is going through and commit to the contribution of solutions to them in your area of expertise. Your practical commitment will inspire others to also commit to theirs.

We’ll post the concluding part next week. See you then.

Books That Will Help You Crack the Code of Personal and Corporate Synergy: The eBooks authored by Imeh David and listed below, will certainly help you to build and sustain synergy for outstanding results.

(1) Extraordinary Leadership Today.

(2) Best Business & Investment Opportunities.

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