While it ain't quite time for the revival of the hangies, it is time for some reader participation in these parts. So we're having our first online contest, stolen, in true blogger form, from elsewhere.
I've long been a fan of Barbara Wallraff's Word Fugitives in the Atlantic. (I actually prefer Word Court, but have grown to enjoy Fugitives nearly as much.) Word Fugitives is a contest for readers to create a new word.
And I am in search of a word.
The other day at work I was explaining to my boss how our organization is suffering from . . . "the opposite of synergy." Unlike effective organizations where different people's work seems to enhance the value of other people's work, building upon one another toward a common goal, our organization seems to have lots of people working really really hard and achieving less and less. A lack of focus, vision and discipline means we're achieving less than the sum of our work. So . . . what's this called? What's your nomination and explanation for a single word encapsulating this thought? Use the comments link (yes, tis a shameless plug for comments) and feel free to submit multiple nominees.
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2 comments:
My instinct said "antergy" as per synonym and antonym. If you do a search on "synergy word fugitives" though, you'll find that The Atlantic already has covered this topic!
http://www.theatlantic.com/unbound/fugitives/synergy.htm
My favorite suggestion from that page is to use ironic quotation marks: 'synergy' as the opposite of synergy. That seems appropriate since those achieving 'synergy' are often attempting synergy.
Synergy is where the whole is greater than the parts... thus the opposite should be where the parts are greater than the whole.
Antagonism: The phenomenon where two agents in combination have an overall effect that is less than that predicted from their individual effects.
Thus, the Mpls public schools are suffering from Antagonism. I would also suggest a sense of inflated Ego and Fear (of change and an unknown future if a decision is made).
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