Book Review: Stephen R. Covey's The 3rd Alternative

Written by: Lorraine Twombly

Published: March 2012

This is a good book about synergy and people getting together to think of other ways to solve their conflicts or problems. I've always liked that word synergy, because it symbolizes the need to work together to solve stressful problems, such as conflicts with friends, neighbors, and school disputes, as well as financial situations and all things that can go wrong at work with bosses, peers and employees. Synergy also works to enhance your business and personal life.

Some people think that synergy is just another buzz word that no one pays attention to. Tha'’s very evident when we see how things are going politically in all areas of our country. All we tend to see are the negative ads that will discredit one person from another. This is not just in the political world, but in many media settings and many areas in the workplace. It seems as though some people are only interested in their way to solve the problem, rather than to connect with the person to improve, include, and find new solutions for win/win outcomes or outcomes that both parties can live with.

Covey touches on the four steps to synergy and it seems very simple to apply, if we remember to apply them as much as we can.  Asking questions in order to come up with a better solution not yet thought of, defining what success means to both parties, and creating together what another alternative solution are the true behaviors of synergy and win-win solutions.

The examples in the book are really good and I'd recommend it as a good next business book.

Just a quick note:

The other day I was reminded just how important synergy is to us in our work. Whenever our team gets together to design a workshop, outline a proposal, make decisions about office maintenance and supplies, and solve important problems, it always comes down to the synergy we create to get it done or solved...we throw out ideas and that will trigger more ideas and sure enough, we've designed a great process or we made a good decision that moved our business in a great direction, even though some of those decisions seemed risky at the time. We are not afraid to take risks and we try to learn from our mistakes, so for us it is worth it. Synergy and teamwork have benefited our business and we wouldn’t have it any other way!!

Thanks for reading!

Lorraine Twombly