Snergize and Synchronicity

I am at best only a casual student of psychology. Whatever knowledge I have comes from flipping pages of Psychology Today. Probably due to a faulty mailing list system, an unsubscribed copy of that magazien would arrive regularly at our house.

Carl Jung is one of the most frequently cited authorities in many of the articles. And I seem to remember that Covey in his 7 Habit book also mentions Jung.

I have always thought that Jung's synchronicity lines up with Habit 6: Synergize.

Both have the belief that life's seemingly chaotic events follow a pattern. Coincidents add up to produce synergistic results. One plus one sometimes does add up to four or more. The whole can be greater than the sum of its parts.

I have witnessed the working of synchronicity and synergy all this week.


Story 1: Close Encounter of the Liked Kind

Last Monday, Kay, Director of Rochester Diversity Council, meets with me to see if I would be interested in joining the DC board. Being passionate about diversity at IBM and now about to retire with more time on my hand, I told her I was interested and would gladly fill out an application form.

The next day, Tuesday morning, I fill out the application form and mail it to Kay. That was that, so I thought. But an hour later, at noon, Roger and I are at our Kiwanis Club West's weekly meeting. Lo and behold, I notice that on the agenda is a topic about diversity. And Kay is the featured speaker. Needless to say, Kay and I were both pleasantly surprised. What a coincidence! I told her if I had known she was going to be at the meeting I could have saved the postage stamp and just handed her my application.

Story 2: "Who are you again?"

Yesterday, after talking to my financial adviser who reassures me I am still good to go financially to retire, I wander into a "job fair" in the auditorium next to her office. I was not looking for anything in particular. I was just curious what was going on. Best Buy was there and a number of other companies too. As I browse around the room half-interested, I come to one of the last tables at the room, the woman behind the table calls out: "Al!" She looked familiar but I couldn't place her. "I am Abbey," she said. I am still puzzled. She went on: "You and I have been exchanging email the last couple of weeks." Then it clicks. I am standing in front of the table of RCTC. Abbey, whom I had met a couple of years ago when RCTC needed help to design a Chinese cultural course, have been emailing with me about the possibility of teaching that class. In our exchange she also became intrigued about LPG. What a coincidence!

Well, how will these two stories play out as far as Synergize goes remains to be seen. But I have a feeling that whatever it is the whole will be greater than the sum of its parts.

See this link for today's LPG meeting agenda.