To follow is an article I wrote in 2000, while still living in San Diego. As I read through it, I realized that this might be useful to anyone who is a regular visitor to Unforgettable Speakers. Please take a moment to comment if you like it, agree or even if you disagree…

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Can we talk?? Joan Rivers used that line so often that every time I heard it I laughed. What about you? Let me ask you something else. What is in it for you when we compete? And what is in it for me for that matter. In my dictionary, the Chambers Concise 20th Century Edition, it defines the word compete as “to seek or strive for something in opposition to others: to contend for a prize.” How does that affect us in business? How about in our personal lives?

In business, and in life we were taught early that if you want to win you have to compete. Be the best. May the best man (or woman) win. To the victor go the spoils.

Win what? The spoils? Don’t know about you but I think spoils belong in the trash.

I feel strongly about the devastation that often results from competition, and as a service to the readers of this column, I’d like to offer a better way to live. It’s called cooperation. Teamwork. One for all and all for one.

Cooperation, in the same dictionary is defined as “to work together, a joint operation: combining in cooperative societies.” Doesn’t that sound better? It is better. Try it and you will never go back. In my business life, I’m in competition with thousands, no make that millions of others to create a successful Internet operation. Except I refuse to see it that way. Instead of competing, which brutalizes the companies and the people involved, I seek cooperation. This way we can all win.

As an example, I have discovered a particular company that would benefit from working with us on a project we are involved in. My team and I believe that were we to compete directly with them, we could and eventually would win the market from them. After studying the situation, we now see that by approaching this company and seeking a strategic alliance with them, we can save many months of development time, and perhaps millions of dollars in costs. The best part  is that both groups are improved.  Lives are improved. Doesn’t that just feel better?

Look at it another way, let’s say we decided to take our “competitor” on. Head to head. And if we win?? Many lives are affected. How about if we lose?? Now it is us who are affected.
One final thought, in this dictionary here, less than 12 pages separate competition and cooperation. Turn the page and watch your business grow.

©2000 - Scott A. Dennison