STOP Competing with Each Other: START Competing with the Challenge

I remember my friend Greg Hulsizer reminding my story group that there’s a lesson to be learned from the crab fisherman. When he catches crabs, he doesn’t bother covering the top of the basket. Why? Because the crabs will never escape. As soon as one starts to climb toward freedom, the others pull it back down, desperately clawing their own way to the top. And so, despite their individual efforts, they remain trapped.

This is the way too many businesses and too many professionals operate. Instead of competing with a challenge—solving problems, innovating solutions, and pushing industries forward—we waste energy trying to outdo, undercut, or sabotage the competition. But here’s the truth: American innovation has never been about beating the next guy—it’s been about making things better than they were before.

The Myth of Beating the Competition

Imagine if Thomas Edison had focused on beating his competitors instead of perfecting the light bulb (which had already received significant contributions by predecessors Alessandro Volta, Humphry Davy, and Joseph Swan). If Henry Ford had obsessed over besting the horse-and-buggy industry rather than revolutionizing transportation. If Steve Jobs had been more interested in crushing Microsoft than in designing technology that transformed how we live.

Each of these innovators understood something critical: competition should be with the challenge, not with each other. If your focus is just on beating someone else, your vision will always be limited to what they are doing. But when you focus on solving the problem—creating something better, faster, more effective—then you create real change.

Collaboration Creates Innovation

Have you ever heard of Samuel Pierpont Langley? His is one of my favorite stories as a cautionary tale not to do something for the thrill of the contest but for the potential to make things better and solve problems. Samuel almost was the innovator responsible for human flight. Obviously, today we all know that the Wright brothers were the first to succeed in mechanical flight, but the brothers were underfunded and the absolute underdogs in the “contest.” Samuel was an American astronomer, physicist, and professor, and had federal funding and notoriety to his name… Of course, HE would succeed over a couple of bicycle mechanics from Ohio. But we know that’s not how the story goes. Whatever happened to our innovator Samuel? He gave up. He was too interested in winning to work towards building on the success of the Wright brothers once he hadn’t. Nikola Tesla worked FOR Thomas Edison as an employee. Some of the greatest breakthroughs in history weren’t about going solo but about working together. The Apollo 11 moon landing wasn’t achieved by one person or one company but by an entire network of engineers, mathematicians, and scientists working against a challenge. The Human Genome Project, one of the most significant scientific achievements of our time, involved researchers from across the world sharing data and insights.

Even in the business world, cooperation has proven to be more powerful than cutthroat competition. Tesla famously open-sourced its patents, allowing competitors to use its technology to push the electric vehicle industry forward. When airlines collaborate on safety research, they aren’t worried about “beating” each other—they are focused on solving a shared challenge: keeping passengers safe (OK, maybe not the best example right now).

The Call to Action: Work Together to Climb Out

If we keep clawing over each other, refusing collaboration or sharing ideas, we all stay in the basket. If we work together, we can all climb out. The future belongs to the problem solvers, the innovators, and the people who understand that true success isn’t about beating others—it’s about making the world better than it was yesterday.

So, connect with the change-makers around you. Even if they are your “competitors”. Have conversations, share insights, and tackle big problems together. The businesses and leaders that will thrive in the next decade won’t be the ones focused on competition—they’ll be the ones focused on progress.

Let’s stop fighting over who gets to the top of the basket first. Let’s start building a ladder out.