Collaboration: The way forward

From childhood, we are taught to be competitive. Who does not remember the “hare and the tortoise “ story?? To win we have to compete, we have to work hard and we have to be one up on our participants. Winning is often defined as going above our competition.

How ironic that today when the whole human race is working towards being one, we still do not hesitate to share the “hare and the tortoise story” with our children. Why can’t the story have a different ending ???? such as…….. the hare waits for the tortoise and they help each other to reach the winning line. Is that an option ?? But then who wins ?? NOONE. Who loses ?? NOONE. We still discuss this story because the reality is that we continue to compete, nations compete, people compete, professionals compete……………… all of us are constantly running to be better than the next person.

I grew up in a household where my brother was a super achiever. He was and continues to be the sweetest human being. He has never bragged about his success nor ever looked down upon me. However, the environment was such that there was always subtle pressure to compete and be as good as him. I failed miserably. Over the years this pressure made me under confident and I grew up always fearing that I am being judged and always looking over my shoulder to see if someone is coming for me.

I don’t think the objective was ever for me to become like him, but the pressure was always there that I had to outperform. Which I failed miserably.

Now as the years have gone by, I realized that my underconfidence was a function of this pressure and I wonder was this really worth it ??

We keep talking of WIN WIN situations however how many of us practice this? I feel if we collaborate then together we can create something much more beautiful and bigger that what we set out to achieve.

Should collaboration be restricted only to business ventures ??? Does collaboration need to be restricted only to work environments ??

Definitely not ……….collaboration in my opinion should be a way of life so that we consciously move towards helping and winning together. As a family, we can collaborate and achieve wonders for all members. The child learns that it’s important to help all the team members and the joy of winning together is a different feeling. The child also feels valued as an individual because his opinion matters. That’s the best part of collaboration, everyone contributes and everyone works together for a collective goal.

Also if we collaborate the question of failing does not occur, right ?? Because we are all in it together??