I recently attended a meeting where the discussions revolved around gaining competitive advantage and evolving strategies to grab and retain market share. The aggression and passion with which suggestions were made and plans decided was a revelation. Sounds Familiar doesn't it. It was even more surprising considering that a couple of the more vociferous participants had been recently recruited from key competitors. It has been patronizingly explained to me that this is part of the modern professional approach and there is nothing wrong with it. I was unable to reconcile to the theory that competitors are meant for bashing and what's wrong if we get one of their own to help us bash them better.

I could not but help recall a story I had heard a long time ago. I searched for it on the net but could not find the source. I am sure the author would like this inspiring anecdote to be shared with as many people as possible and am therefore taking the liberty of telling it from memory. It is about a farmer who kept winning an annual corn growing festival by getting the highest yield per hectare for three years in a row. When he won the contest for the 5thyear in succession researchers started paying attention to his methods and started writing papers about him. One particular researcher discovered a curious statistic. Even though the farmer was winning the contest each year with an increasingly higher yield per hectare, his margin of victory was reducing significantly each passing year. The other curious fact was that almost all the farmers in the top 10 were from the same areas. This young man then started focusing on the soil composition as well as temperature changes in the region over the last 4-5 years to understand why this particular set of farms was getting such a high yield. All his research could not lead him to a definite conclusion and he decided to visit the prize winning farmer and the neighbouring farms to observe the process.

He was shocked to find that the prize winning farmer was distributing his seeds to all his neighbours who were also his competitors at the start of the season. When he quizzed him about it, the wise old farmer replied “Well, son that is the only way I can get a good yield”. Looking at the surprise on the young researcher’s face he went on to explain “The wind takes the pollen from the ripening corn across the land and takes it to the neighbouring fields. This is cross pollination. If my neighbours grow inferior corn the yield of my land will degrade.” As realization dawned on the face of the young researcher the farmer concluded by saying “If I am to grow good corn, my neighbours need to grow good corn as well. “

Such a simple message. Collaboration is the secret of healthy competition. Ideas are so much like the pollen and the corn in the story. The more you share and discuss them with others, the higher the likelihood that they will germinate into something worthwhile. If we do not share our ideas there will be no cross pollination and hence no growth.

Management jargon and technology may have revolutionized business and turned it on its head but I do not think the technology changes should significantly change the way we manage our businesses. There is still no place for ruthlessness and lack of compassion and caring in any corporate relationship. Competing companies are after all just another group of like-minded people.

The comparison does not end there. It even applies to those you see as competitors in the workplace. This may sound like an anachronism, when you are in competition with your colleagues, bosses, direct and indirect reports for recognition, compensation, bonuses, promotions or even a vacation. Success in any activity which involves more than one person is always a team event. All the members need to succeed and have an equal opportunity to win. The quantum of success may vary but there needs to be something for everybody.