Competition LO18120

Winfried Dressler (winfried.dressler@voith.de)
Mon, 18 May 1998 16:02:05 +0100

Replying to LO18101 --

Dear Roxanne and other LOers,

thank you for the Webster-definitions on competition
> "a contest between rivals"
and cooperation
> "to associate with another or others for mutual, often economic, benefit"

Of course you need not to agree and may be I am off common sense, but for
me not only people but also ideas, products, choices, issues catching for
my attention etc. can be rivals. In fact when I meet two sales people from
two competing companies, I never experience these two persons as
competitors, but the ideas and products they represent compete. Without
these competing ideas, I wouldn't have the choice. I choose, what fits
better to my needs. And I judge the whole value package (including
product, quality, services, competence, responsiveness...)

It need not be, but can be that such a competition is the motor for these
two competing ideas to try to associate with my needs for as much mutual
benefit as possible (= cooperation). Without competition, the association
may be weaker.

As such, competition would be the motor to develop ideas further in a
collaborative manner. I regard such a competition as healthy and
constructive, as a way to experience ones limits (another possible
understanding of rival - "a contest between me/us and my/our limits") and
to expand them.

If not competition, what else could be the motor?

And if competition fails (which is quite often the case according to the
studies, that have been mentioned previously in this thread), what is the
reason? Is it really due to the concept of competition, leading to
destructive outcomes necessarily in the long run? Or is there something
else missing, that is required additional to competition to make it
constructive?

Surely we can all agree, that "avoiding competition" is not sufficient to
overcome destruction, neither is "improve collaboration". So I am
wondering, what we are heading for in this thread.

Finally:
> I don't believe that choices in life can compete.

As you have stated, it is a question of definition of the word. I think by
now I made clear what I mean with competing ideas, choices or fighting
against limits as competition etc. If this content is not part of the
common sense of the word competition, h ow would you name, what I mean?

Best regards,

Winfried

-- 

"Winfried Dressler" <winfried.dressler@voith.de>

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