From competition to cooperation – what would your business be like?

Some years ago, I attended Louise Hay’s “I Can Do It” conference in Toronto. Gregg Braden, one of the most brilliant minds on the planet, gave the Sunday morning keynote.

One thing that resonated deeply with me was Gregg’s statement towards his closing that we are experiencing a planetary shift from “competition to cooperation”. As someone deeply schooled at Harvard Business School in the capitalist ethic, competitive advantage, competitive strategy and such terms have reigned supreme. And I also have the experience of growing up in and running my family business and starting and leading other businesses. Conventional wisdom was to focus on beating the competition, waging war, and “may the best man win”. This translated from the organizational level to the individual, so it’s no surprise that we see co-workers vying with each other for positions, recognition and favour. No wonder many workplaces are devoid of joy.

I understand this shift, for over the years, I have felt great discomfort in the way business is carried out:

• Disregard for the environment;
• Unrelenting pursuit of increasing profitability;
• A seeming assumption that growth is good at all costs, and MUST go on forever;
• Lack of ethical behaviour by leaders;
• A widening and inequitable wage gap

I could go on. But as a lover of business, I have also seen the good that business can do – providing people with opportunities for employment and growth; bringing valuable goods and services to needy consumers; helping their immediate communities; contributing to national growth and development, and now more than ever, championing social causes.

I am excited for the era of cooperation in principle. I wonder: in practice, how might business operate in a cooperative world? Some of the shifts that would have to occur are:

• From focusing on your competitors, and competitive advantage, to focusing on the needs of your customers;
• From employees as human “resources” to human beings with unlimited potential, with their own gifts, talents, aspirations and much to contribute;
• From business as a standalone profit generating machine, to business as a contributor to societal good;
• From a one-dimensional focus on profitability to a focus on larger goals that are sustainable, and do limited harm to our planet;
• There would also have to be shifts in how we communicate and lead – less authoritarian and more consultative and compassionate (even whilst holding oneself and others accountable).

I am very excited at this shift, which can start with each one of us as we lead our organizations. Imagine: what your business or organization would be like if you switched your focus from competition to cooperation? It’s good to dream sometimes ….