We is Greater than Me

To improve collaboration, we should start acting like actors!

“Synergy is what happens when one plus one equals ten or a hundred or even a thousand! It’s the profound result when two or more respectful human beings determine to go beyond their preconceived ideas to meet a great challenge” –Stephen Covey

Synergy might be one of the most overused terms in business today. As illustrated in the quote above, synergy is much more than one-on-one collaboration. The Marketing & Sales value of "We Win Together" and the desired behavior of “We is Greater than Me” describe pure synergistic collaboration that leads to results far greater than those achieved or sought independently. 

Given our entertainment DNA at Universal, I thought I would illustrate my point through the lens of an actor.  The type of synergy we are seeking within Marketing & Sales is the type that happens in a theater.  

Actors don’t have co-workers, they have fellow artists. Actors are encouraged to redefine their assigned role and hope that by doing so they in turn will help their fellow artists raise the bar. Actors don’t have a boss, they have a director who is usually another actor and therefore a fellow artist and he/she doesn’t have “workers” or “employees” they have a group of performers. 

The director has a vision and shares that vision with the performers and trusts them to utilize their artistry to fulfill that interpretation. Actors don’t go to work every night – they perform and the show must go on! They also recognize the other “artists” who support their work; lighting, orchestras, make up, costumes, writers…..everyone in the play or the film is important and all recognize that when one person is off they all struggle.  Similarly when one actor is really on, everyone benefits.  

Finally, and most importantly - actors rate their success not by the size of the part they have but by the reaction of the audience at the end of the night.

As we look at our Marketing and Sales organization and the future challenges we face as a destination, mere collaboration will not be sufficient to get the standing ovation we desire – we need to actually seek out opportunities to bring out the best in our fellow performers. We need to always assume that like us, they all want the audience to respond with cheers. We need to recognize talented delivery when we see it and rather than be threatened by the up and comers we need to try and learn from them.  Conversely the new actors will look up to the veterans and truly understand that years of working under the lights and in front of the crowd brings immense value to the stage.

One last thing - there are many great actors that are spoken of positively by everyone they work with; their directors love directing them, their fellow actors and production crews find them a joy to work with and before long writers actually start thinking of them for parts even before the story is complete. There are the others, the opposite of that. This perception often has nothing to do with skill, it has to do with just being a nice person, amicable, gregarious and pleasant. If we are brutally honest with ourselves as we look in the mirror of introspection what do we see? Don’t just focus on being great at your craft in isolation, there are very few roles available for solo actors because there are very few plays with a one person cast. Focus on being great in your craft, in fact better at your craft when you work with others.

Written By Frank Belzer

As Senior Vice President of Sales at Universal Orlando resort I am responsible for sales teams made up of corporate events, domestic and international travel sales, youth and group sales as well as sales direct to the consumer through our call center and our travel company (UPRV).