To Compete or To Collaborate: Do we Have to Pick Just One?

To Compete or To Collaborate: Do we Have to Pick Just One?

Are you a competitive or a collaborative kind of person? Collaboration has always been what I prefer because I believe when we work together, we learn from each other and can achieve so much more. However, I have had situations in life in which competing seemed to be the best approach in order to have my voice heard, but how can we contribute to creating an environment for ourselves for a healthy competition that allows for collaboration at the same time? This question got me thinking about the term “Collaborative Competition”, but is it even a possible scenario in the real world? Let’s take a look to better understand it.

 

Let’s Start with the Basics

Collaboration is the process of two or more people working together to complete a project or task. The pros are good communication, knowledge and experience sharing, inclusive discussions on ideas and potential approaches to situations using a broad and diverse point of view. The cons are potential conflicts among the participants and ongoing disagreements which can be caused by the competitive nature of some individuals, this may delay or affect the end result of a project or task.

Competition is a rivalry where two or more people work separately to win, in this approach winning is completing the project or task faster and/or better than others. The pros are that it supports creativity, encourages efficiency and it can motivate individuals to strive for excellence. The cons are potentially working in silos and not sharing knowledge which might delay the project completion. In addition, it can create a lack of trust with other peers, add stress and frustration leading to burnout as individuals may feel exhausted from constantly having to look out for themselves.

As you can see, it is not as simple as it might seem to determine which culture we should adopt for ourselves to achieve the most accurate and efficient results that include a broad point of view. If only there was a somewhere in between.

 

 

Collaborative Competition

Collaborative Competition sometimes also referred to as “Coopetition” combines characteristics of both Collaboration and Competition to create a win-win situation for all the participants involved. This approach involves having the participants work together on a common goal while also competing against each other on specific aspects of the project or task. This approach aims to solve the cons of a fully collaborative environment as well as of a fully competitive environment. It is designed to bring the pros of collaboration and competition together by supporting creativity, efficiency, good communication and knowledge sharing while guiding all participants to achieve the common goal in an engaging way. Could this be too good to be true? 

 


In the Real World

Now let’s talk about how to apply the Collaborative Competition approach in the real world. In order for a collaborative yet competitive environment to work for a group of people, it is very important for the vision to be shared with the participants as often as possible and as consistent as possible that the focus of the project or task is on teamwork and shared goals. The five following leadership actions are needed:

1.    Encourage Knowledge and Experience Sharing: Create opportunities for individuals to share their individual ideas and learn from each other like problem-solving group discussions or brainstorming sessions.

2.    Set Clear Objectives: First, establish tasks that require collaborative efforts connecting individual success to team success by ensuring that all participants receive equal credits for their efforts. Secondly, establish tasks to be worked on separately in the form of competition and giving credit to the most efficient and creative idea, then sharing those learnings with the entire team.

3.    Build Trust and Transparency: Create an environment where trust and transparency are valued, as they are crucial for successful collaboration. This will help reduce stress and frustration within the team.

4.    Define Roles and Responsibilities: Clearly define team and project roles, responsibilities and levels of authority most importantly within collaborate efforts to prevent conflicts and ongoing disagreements.

5.    Establish a Conflict Resolution Process: Create a space for active listening and showing empathy for each of the involved participants. Emotional intelligence, good communication as well as mediation skills are a must to be able to find common ground to successfully address potential conflicts that may arise.

 


Conclusion

Meeting somewhere in the middle is the goal of a Collaborative Competition approach, trying to leave out the cons of applying a solely collaborative or a solely competitive approach. Allowing room for a healthy competition while having a collaborative environment as the base. I believe it is possible to have the best of both worlds in the pursue of the best results. It takes work to create such an environment but the benefits to the team and to each individual are well worth it. What do you think?

 

 

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