Talks about synergy almost always start with a slide that which says "1 + 1 > 2". This is usually done for the workplace where each individual contribution of a team member taken together is a whole which is greater than the sum of its parts.
Now, however, I'll be talking about something I've bugged my friends over constantly during our badminton games. When playing mixed doubles, both partners have to be in sync with each other. If not, they're a very easy team to beat. Now, shear strength can overcome much weaker opponents but what I'm talking about here is when you take two players who (on paper) should lose to another team but because of their synergy, they are able to perform much better than expected.
I'm talking about one of the guys from my badminton group. Now, two years ago, I joined my current badminton group after a friend of mine, Nigel invited me and told me the guys there where really good. I didn't know anyone else there so everyone was a new person to me. One of the guys there, Grant, stood out to me because as we played, it was very clear we simply understood each other's movements. Grant would automatically cover areas I wasn't defending or set up a smash I could easily make.
The weird part of all of this is that me and Grant hadn't talked at all prior to that first game. In fact, to this date, we don't exchange much words between us other than the customary "Hi!" and "Hello!" But I've always found that playing with Grant, I feel I'm at my most natural state in playing badminton. I've played with other people, even ones who are objectively much better than Grant but we just don't click as well. Nigel, my badminton friend from back in high school, comes close but we had to build that up over years of playing with each other. My dynamic with Grant came naturally.
We still get to play on Tuesdays and while I don't get to play with Grant always, when I do, I always find it a pleasure. We don't always win but we are able to challenge pairs that are objectively much stronger than us with better than expected results.
My badminton friends will most likely tease me about this as I've been very open to them about how I love my dynamic with Grant even though we rarely speak to each other off the court. I'm pretty sure Nikki will tease me about this but I just wanted to let this out.
I'm talking about one of the guys from my badminton group. Now, two years ago, I joined my current badminton group after a friend of mine, Nigel invited me and told me the guys there where really good. I didn't know anyone else there so everyone was a new person to me. One of the guys there, Grant, stood out to me because as we played, it was very clear we simply understood each other's movements. Grant would automatically cover areas I wasn't defending or set up a smash I could easily make.
The weird part of all of this is that me and Grant hadn't talked at all prior to that first game. In fact, to this date, we don't exchange much words between us other than the customary "Hi!" and "Hello!" But I've always found that playing with Grant, I feel I'm at my most natural state in playing badminton. I've played with other people, even ones who are objectively much better than Grant but we just don't click as well. Nigel, my badminton friend from back in high school, comes close but we had to build that up over years of playing with each other. My dynamic with Grant came naturally.
We still get to play on Tuesdays and while I don't get to play with Grant always, when I do, I always find it a pleasure. We don't always win but we are able to challenge pairs that are objectively much stronger than us with better than expected results.
My badminton friends will most likely tease me about this as I've been very open to them about how I love my dynamic with Grant even though we rarely speak to each other off the court. I'm pretty sure Nikki will tease me about this but I just wanted to let this out.
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