And yet, competition and cooperation are not
inherently opposing concepts. Competition has its positives, and a
preference for cooperation to the extent that we lose those
advantages will do us, and wider society, less good than we might
hope. Competition does not preclude cooperation, and need not even be
in tension with it; seeing them as alternatives is both reductionist
and counterproductive.
Competition is not always adversarial. Where we
have different ideas of how to do something, and enough resources to
try both, then we ensure the best outcome by making a sincere trial
of both ways, and see what works best. It is no censure to those who
suggested the idea that “lost”, but rather a validation of the
possibility that their idea was worth listening to, even if another
idea ended up performing better. If we had insisted on deciding on
just one of those ideas, so that we could fully cooperate on a single
strategy, we would not know if we had chosen correctly – and
however spirit-led or consensus-driven the decision-making had been,
those supporting the idea passed over may feel that they lost, at
least as much as if the idea is tried and doesn't measure up. It is
often better to feel trusted enough for your ideas to be worth
trying, and see that they didn't work as well as you might hope, than
to have your idea dismissed without a chance.
Friendly competition more generally also provides
a fillip for self-improvement that is hard to replicate otherwise.
Two or more people, striving to do better than the other – even if
they wish no harm to the other, and do them no harm by winning, and
take no harm by losing – will push themselves to do so. That
ongoing interaction represents not opposition, but a yardstick to
measure against that is external, and capable of its own growth.
Competition and rivalry can easily be taken too
far, especially in younger people, but they are not anathema to
growth and happiness. But when part of a cooperative, nurturing and
constructive culture, they can promote self-improvement, learning and
development.
Written January 2018
