Many leaders assemble information. Good leaders synthesize it. There is an important difference. Assembly is about packaging. Synthesis is about extracting something new.
Here is an example. Joe wants to propose a new supply chain management process for his organization. He has his team run analyses on inventory control, procurement costs, manufacturing times, and warehouse efficiency. He then takes two to three key summary slides from each team and puts them into a presentation. Joe has assembled.
Jane, on the other hand builds a story about the competitive positioning of the company. Her slides talk about the company’s strategy and her assessment of how well it is being met given the performance data that Joe’s team provided. Jane has synthesized. She’s added new meaning and new value to the information.
Both Joe and Jane have added value to the organization. I’d argue that Jane’s contribution to the organization was greater. Jane added her knowledge to improve upon the information creating something new from it. Joe repackaged the information but didn’t provide new insight. By virtue of his position in the organization, he should have a broader perspective and more information than the people who work for him. If he’s not adding that, then he really isn’t needed in the process. One of his people could just have easily assembled the key slides into a presentation.
Good leaders synthesize information to create meaning. They use their knowledge of the business to transform facts into a story. This is where a leader ads value.
I really appreciate what you have written here. I think that more frequently I act as an “assembler” although I would prefer to be a “synthesizer.” What can I do for myself to evolve into the later? I find this especially challenging in those areas where my experience or formal education doesn’t give me a comfortable subject matter platform. Any suggestions? I see how the capacity to synthesize creates a higher level value..I just don’t know how to get to that plane. Thanks.
Well, first, don’t minimize the value of assembling. A car is much more valuable than a pile of tires, an engine, and a body.
There are a few of things you can do to become a better synthesizer:
1. Learn more stuff. The key to synthesizing is having stuff to synthesize. Too many people focus their learning, information gathering, and development within a narrow discipline or industry. Reach outside of your current role, industry, culture, business, etc. to gather nuggets of wisdom that you can use to make sense of your current world.
2. Learn more about your business. Try to develop a basic understanding of the following four areas of your company; a) its strategy and competitive position, 2) how money moves through the organization, 3)how products and services move through the organization, 4) how each functional unit contributes to the organization’s success. The more of this that you know, the more you’ll be able to synthesize.
3. Keep abreast of news about your company. Understand what it impacting the marketplace. Who the key competitors are and what they are up to and other competitive pressures you face.
4. Never run an analysis or report without first hypothesizing about the result. That way, you’ll be able to question and make sense of what you see. If you can’t make a hypothesis, do you homework. Dig into the details until you understand enough to make a prediction. Then run the analysis/report.
5. Make time for “sense making”. Take the time to look at the information and tie it to your experience. You don’t have to be an expert to apply your own knowledge. When you see a result on a report, ask yourself “What do I know that can either explain this or put this to use?” The answer is your first step toward synthesis.
Very helpful feedback! Thank you!