Leverage On the Strengths of Cooperation than on the Weaknesses of Competition

 

For all I care, competition can sometimes be very destructive than constructive. We feel bad when our friends fail, yet feel worse if they come out tops. — Joseph Oakon

Cain killed Abel in retaliation for being rejected. The pains of being defeated got the best of him. His defeat revealed he was in competition with his blood brother. He should have emerged victorious. But he didn't. He did the unthinkable, and killed his brother. This story marked the beginning of human competition for superiority against another.

This is one of many stories that points to the subtlety that spells competition than cooperation in human society.

Subtly, we are trained like the Koel bird, the cruel bed. The Koel bird never makes her own nest. It believes in the 'overthrow and takeover' mentality. It was trained to annex other people's territory.

She lays her eggs in others’ nest. And when they hatch she pushes the other birds that are the original owners of the nest out of their nest. Then the competition is over! The Koel bird wins. The Koel bird is the new landlord.

Just like the Koel bird, we have built a community of competitors who compete against one another, instead of everyone, together against their common enemy.

The world is gradually shifting from that belief, and is fast growing in the direction of cooperation than suicidal competitions as it used to be. It is understood that the arms and rat races only guarantee Mutually Assured Destructions. Those who understand this are beginning to leverage on the strengths of cooperation than on the weaknesses of competition.

For all I care, competition can sometimes be very destructive than constructive. We feel bad when our friends fail, yet feel worse if they come out tops.

What a paradox!

We compete on who marries first, whose car is bigger, whose house is finer, whose family is more accomplished, and whose grade is better. This is the society we live in. It is the society that has taught us to be more destructively competitive than constructively cooperative.

As I learn from great businesses and leaders, I realize how much they leverage on collaborations, partnerships and bilateral agreements. There's no point competing with what you can leverage on. That's wisdom from the sages: Don't compete with what can complete your efforts.
Cooperation isn't a sign of weakness. Neither is competition a sign of superiority or strength.

Understanding cooperation is understanding that there is nothing constructive about wars. With cooperation, we build bridges, walkways to fulfillment, and enduring institutions.

Resist the pressure to always compete against anyone and everyone. At the end of this rat race, we will all be graded according to the things we did in line with our purpose not in competition with other's purposes.

By Joseph Oakon