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Showing posts from December, 2013

Competition is Cooperation

There are two ways to compete - the old fashioned way and the realistic way. In the old order, competition is about pitting one against the other, trying to better each other by challenging, testing, pushing - through feats of excellence, humor, adrenaline induced rush, energy and action. This is usually good for the overall edifice, but involves a lot of careful friction management - the art of toning down the bite while showing off the canines. To compete, we have to agree on rules and tools. In a world where our competition is limited to those whom we know, and know well, this works very effectively. It is a "zero-sum in the market share, but non-zero-sum for the market size" game. It is also only relevant when we know whom we are competing against. In a world where your base is the entire set of people who can see your work, this doesn't work well.. in fact, in the next few decades, it may cease to work at the highest levels. Competition in our world i