This week is the final post in the series where we look at why there is a gap between knowing and doing something in business.
Competition within and between businesses is widely thought to be a good thing. It is widely thought to promote innovation, efficiency and higher levels of organisational performance. It is a zero sum game where we have winners and losers and the winner takes all type thinking. I can just imagine Donald Trump in the apprentice pointing his finger at me saying “your fired!”.
The problem with this type of zero-sum winners and losers type thinking is that it focuses on individuals while at the same time undermining teams. Where people are rewarded for their individual performance this goes against the idea of sharing information so that best practices are shared. Competition for rewards and status undermines knowledge sharing. The type of thinking: “I am not going to help the next guy – he is my competitor for a bonus”. Competition between units within the organisation can also undermine sharing of knowledge which will benefit the whole organisation.
One of the best ways to overcome too much internal competition is to reinforce a common organisational identity by highlighting external threats and enemies. Workers should be able to work cooperatively for the overall organisation’s benefit and these workers who put the organisation’s welfare ahead of their own should be rewarded.
In summary, team work skills and skills around building groups where members cooperate, share information and help each other are vital skills needed to make any business or organisation successful.
