It’s not news that technology and information are increasing at an exponential rate. Many businesses are hard pressed to keep up with the breakneck pace of change. At the same time, people’s expectations of products, services, and even relationships are changing. Consumers are more demanding and sophisticated than ever. They want it all. And if they can’t get satisfaction from one source, they’ll go elsewhere. Businesses and the people running them are struggling to figure out how to meet rising expectations at a time when demands seem to outpace the ability to change.

Whether in our personal life or in business, most of us eventually turn to partnership to help us achieve our goals.Aren’t two heads better than one? There’s a word that describes the potentially dynamic force created in a partnership: synergy. The best definition of synergy I’ve heard is in the form of a mathematical equation: 1 + 1 > 2. This is the essence of synergy. It is two (or more) people or organizations working together to do more than one of them can do alone—even after summing up their individual achievements. In nature the concept of synergy is embodied in procreation. One person alone cannot create another human being. Two different people together, however, can create something each could never do separately. The result, a new life, is certainly more than the sum of the parts. Moreover, it is created without taking away from the continued success of each contributor.