Seek First to Fight? Or Seek First to Be Friends? These Are the Questions
The challenge with being the first this or the largest that are:
- There is only one. Or as Randal Pinkett said on the Apprentice, "This show is called, 'The Apprentice', not the 'Apprenti'."
- Defending the number one spot is stressful, not to mention getting there.
- Being #1 brings on jealous criticism and ignorant attacks from others.
- Luck is always a factor. No matter how hard we work or how good we are, we are not protected from chance.
- In the end, being #1 probably doesn't make us feel as good as we thought it would
Despite these disadvantages it is people fighting to be #1 that bring up the quality of play for everyone else. Furthermore, it is the fittest animal surviving that brings on evolution. Is it not better to banish ineffective practices quickly and surely?
I bring this up because I'm still working on philosophically and practically bringing the idea of a competition together with cooperation. Should I take on a posture of doing 'good battle' with competition where the goal is to wipe them out, but where there is a mutual admiration and respect. Or should I focus on cooperation, share information and resources, and see how we could work together or serve different niches. The latter sounds better, but is it better in the end? I know that different situations probably call for different actions, but it is an interesting question nonetheless.
Posted at March 18, 2006 12:00 PM
I agree. It seems far more lucrative and less unpleasant to find a niche that nobody else is filling, and expand into it. The trouble is that this requires a niche to expand into, which means exploring new terrain and taking a risk. Some people are better at that than others.
The act of competition is important too though, especially when niches are in scarce demand. Competition motivates optimization and specialization for a given niche. The specialized person for a given niche can often beat the person who is not quite as suited for it. The nonspecialist approach is better for exploring new niches.
