13. Collaboration versus competitiveness - it's a no-brainer!

Of all the resources available to you, one of the most supportive for achieving personal effectiveness is assistance from other people. When you work well with others, you see how the whole is greater than the sum of its parts— your combined effort accomplishes more than any of you can alone. Competition can give the feeling of driving high performance, but it isn't anywhere near as effective as collaboration and cooperation with others; it does not provide this kind of synergistic effect.

When you are competitive, you’re less likely to look for areas of mutual gain where work contributions—and rewards— can be shared. When you are collaborative, you work with others in an area of shared interest to achieve a desired outcome.

Competitive people protect their own interests—often at the expense of others—viewing life as a “win/lose” proposition. When you are competitive, you undervalue the contribution of others and lose the potential creativity of their input in problem-solving. Promoting internal competition is divisive. Competitive individuals are unwilling to share their expertise for fear of diminishing their own importance. This unwillingness to share not only puts increased pressure on them—they now have to do all the work themselves—but is also inefficient for colleagues and the organisation. If they do not know the status of others’ contributions, they may end up “reinventing the wheel,” or redoing work that has already been adequately accomplished. This creates waste and tension for all.

Collaboration includes a more holistic approach, seeing the relations and interactions between the parts, and understanding the indirect impacts your actions might have. Collaborators share and utilise all the talents and resources available to them from all team members. They respect other members and their contributions, and have a mind open to different ideas. This promotes a productive climate, where people feel comfortable to express their ideas and differences.

"Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant"

                                                    Robert Louis Stevenson

This dimension is related to Trust, because to work together you must trust the other people in your group to complete their parts of the task and to contribute in good faith. If you have fears of betrayal based on past experiences, you may feel uncomfortable putting the necessary trust in others to work together. The benefits of synergy, measured in terms of increased effectiveness, will eventually outweigh these fears as you increase your ability to cooperate.

Behavioural Symptoms of Competitiveness

These behaviours can be indicators of being overly competitive, although competition may not be the only cause of these behaviours. Notice if you frequently exhibit any of the following characteristics:

?        Feel that meetings with other people are a waste of time

?        Prefer to work alone

?        Hoard information and resources

?        Neglect to keep others informed

?        Have more interest in winning than in how the game is played

?        Distrust the competence of colleagues

?        Grandstand, or inflate your importance

?        Blame others, or circumstances, for your failures

?        Feel alienated from the group, or feel that others are “against you”

?        Compartmentalise and keep separate your life and the projects that you do

?        Encourage competition among colleagues

?        Feel that working with others slows you down

?        Feel overworked

?        Have difficulty delegating to subordinates

?        Have difficulty sharing responsibility with colleagues

?        Believe that you have to do everything yourself, if you want it done right

?        Discount people whose views are different

Actions to Encourage Collaboration

Integrate the parts. Be aware of all the different parts that are involved in a situation, how they impact each other, and how the system works. Are the parts working toward the same or similar objectives, or are they at odds? Look for ways to accomplish multiple objectives by having a macro view for the system; it’s easier letting the system work with you than to work against it.

Reconsider your values. Your sense of worth comes from how you feel about yourself, not from winning. Winning or losing doesn’t change the “you” that is underneath. Explore your values and accept yourself for who you are. You’ll find your competitive behaviours diminishing naturally, as you improve your self-confidence.

Communicate: Listen and share. You might feel that others lack expertise in your area, and that they have little to contribute. However, they may be able to contribute in several areas that you had not considered. Solicit others’ ideas and opinions and listen to what they say. Also, share your ideas with them regarding their projects.  You may have more impact than either they or you expected!

“It is good to rub and polish our brain against that of others.”

                                                      Michael de Montaigne
                                                       

Know that collaboration isn’t just about being “nice.” Collaboration is often in everyone’s best interest, including yours. It’s not charity. If collaboration sounds like work to you, you’re right! Remember that it means receiving support in addition to giving it.

Expand your circle of collaborators. Enlarge your group of collaborators to include people who can help you achieve the goals you want to achieve through resources, knowledge, or connections. This may mean reclassifying some of your current competitors as collaborators. There may be some areas where you choose to remain competitive.

Monitor your competitive behaviours. Increasing awareness will help you refine your ability to be competitive when you need to be, and collaborative when this is in your best interest. From the patterns in your behaviour, you may find that you have been competitive in particular areas based on insecurities or misinterpretations. If you can deal with the underlying issues, you may feel more comfortable collaborating.

Be tough on the problems, not the people. Have a solution-oriented approach, not a blaming approach. This will allow everyone to con- tribute to the task, or to help fix the problem, instead of being defensive.

Have patience with others: Look for the hidden gold. Contributions or support from others may not come in the form you wanted it to, or the form you think it should have. Be patient in these situations and try to understand the otherperson’s perspective. If they think it’s useful and you don’t, are there factors you aren’t incorporating, or something you’ve missed?

Make commitments and keep your word. When working with others, let them know what they can count on you for—and what they can’t. Doing what you say you will do helps interpersonal relations remain effective and also helps everyone move toward the shared objective.  Don’t be afraid to communicate the bad news, as well. It’s easier to deal with it up front, before it becomes too serious.

For further reading in this series please see the links below. If you are interested in learning more, consider attending the Resilience Programme we are hosting on 1-2 December 2020 in our Auckland Offices, where you will learn how you use the thinking styles discussed in these articles, identify your strengths and opportunities, and learn strategies for becoming more resilient in your work and personal life. Please contact Neil for more details at [email protected]

Article 1. What is Stress?

Article 2. It's all about the way we think!

Article 3. Thinking clearly Under Pressure

Article 4. How do you view your Self-image?

Article 5. Where is your Locus of Control?

Article 6. To what degree are you Self-Sufficient?

Article 7. How do you think of your past?

Article 8. How do you use your time?

Article 9. How do you feel about your future?

Article 10. How do you deal with life's every day occurrences?

Article 11. How trusting are you?

Article 12. Do you have a sense of belonging?

Content for these articles has been sourced from the Human Synergistics International Stress Management Programme conducted by HSNZ, which utilises the Stress Processing Report diagnostic developed by Dr. Robert Cooke. This programme is available as a public programme or as an in-house (modified if you wish) programme. Please contact me to learn more. All content copyright Human Synergistics International 2020.

Images are from the awesome crew at Gapingvoid Design Group - thanks team!