I try hard to be punctual for appointments. It's a discipline that is ingrained from my successive careers as a naval aviator, a science journalist (Newsweek), a college professor (in Human Biology at Stanford University), and a private-sector consultant. Hence, I was acutely embarrassed recently when I was more than a half-hour late for a meeting with a visiting colleague at a hotel located in an unfamiliar nearby town. As I pulled into the hotel parking lot, it dawned on me that I had been a victim of negative synergy. No single thing was responsible; there had been a “convergence” of problems. First, I had to make an unforeseen stop for gas. Then there was an accident on the highway; traffic had slowed to a crawl. This cost me several more minutes. My friend's directions were a bit ambiguous, so I got off the highway at the wrong exit. It took me a few minutes to identify the problem, check the map, and make my way back to another highway on-ramp.