Turning Competition into
Collaboration
Competition is healthy but winning can come at a hefty price. Sometimes the swiftest way forward is to replace conflict with collaboration.
According
to Hindu mythology, Garuda was a giant bird, whose mother had been
tricked into slavery by her evil sister, the mother of a hundred
serpents.
One
day, tired of the constant humiliation, Garuda asked the serpents
what they wanted in return for freeing her from the curse of slavery.
“If
you bring us the nectar of immortality, we will free your mother,”
the serpents told him.
Whoever
drank from the pot of nectar would become immortal, invincible and a
dire threat to the gods. Therefore, the entire army of the gods
protected it fiercely.
Garuda,
undaunted by the challenge, soared towards the heavens, so determined
to free his mother that when he flapped his wings, even the biggest
mountains shook in fear of being uprooted.
Meanwhile,
in the heavens, Indra, the king of gods, was seeing bad omens that
were making him anxious. He sought an audience with Brihaspati,
god-guru and master of planet Jupiter.
“Pray,
tell me why I see bad omens today?” Indra asked.
Read more at http://knowledge.insead.edu/blog/insead-blog/turning-competition-into-collaboration-3737#tE51exquAUW7D4Mb.99 After pondering the question, Brihaspati suggested: ‘It could be because the mighty Garuda is in flight towards the heavens to get the pot of nectar.”
“Garuda
is no ordinary creature,” Brihaspati cautioned. “He is blessed
with enormous strength and agility. He can change his form at will.”
Indra
quickly mobilised his army and ordered them to guard the coveted
nectar.
When
Garuda arrived at the gate, the flapping of his huge wings created an
unprecedented dust storm, blinding the army. Attacks and counter
attacks continued until a large part of the army lay vanquished.
Garuda moved towards three concentric rings of security that guarded
the nectar, changing his form many times to remain unnoticed until he
reached the pot. He seized the nectar and was just about to fly when
Indra attacked him with his huge mace.
“Indra,
I am blessed with such strength that I can carry the entire burden of
the earth, seas and the heavens effortlessly on my wings. However as
a mark of respect, I will leave one of my wings with you,” said
Garuda, “But I cannot give you the nectar. It is not for me.”
Touched
by the gesture, Indra held out a hand in friendship.
“Garuda,
whoever you give this nectar of immortality to will create a lot of
trouble for us. If you don’t need the nectar yourself, please
return it to me,” he said.
”Indra,
I need this to free my mother from a curse she was tricked into. I
promised the hundred serpents that I would bring them the nectar,”
reasoned Garuda.
“My
friend, please go ahead and complete your promise,” said Indra,
withdrawing.
After
the long journey back, Garuda gave nectar to the serpents. They, in
turn, released his mother from the curse.
As
they prepared to imbibe the nectar that would make them invincible,
Garuda asked “don’t you want to bathe before drinking this divine
nectar?”
The
serpents agreed. While they bathed, Indra retrieved back the pot of
nectar.
Garuda
kept his promise, Indra kept his pot of nectar. They both won.
Winning
without a fight
Conflicts
are inevitable but a war helps no one. While defeat could be
humiliating, victory could be too costly.
In
2006, a medical devices company grossly overpaid for an acquisition,
just to outbid its arch-rival. Described
as the second worst in history,
the acquisition resulted in the company losing over 46 percent of its
value in a matter of months.
Sometimes,
the winner can be crushed under the weight of its own victory.
Sun
Tzu, the Chinese military general and master strategist says, “The
supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting it.”
One
way to subdue the enemy could be to move beyond the pessimism or
arrogance and identify complementary interests. As Abraham Lincoln
once asked ”am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of
them?”
Rivalry
cannot be wished away, but as the Blue
Ocean Strategy suggests,
it can be made irrelevant by focusing on complementary interests.
This is easier said than done. Often, when a conflict presents
itself, emotions cloud decision-making and a costly, unnecessary
battle ensues.
Collaborate
with your competitors
In
the workplace or marketplace, quibbling doesn’t help anyone. The
swiftest way forward is to look for ways in which collaboration can
be sought and conflict avoided. It is the best, most efficient
utilisation of resources. To win the war, you may no longer need to
worry about winning or losing, you can make the battle irrelevant.
Some
weeks back, I had the occasion to meet a distinguished
scientist[1] with
a zealous interest in cancer research. She spoke of how big
pharmaceutical companies must shed old mind sets and collaborate to
bring together complementing capabilities in their mission towards
finding a cure for cancer. She believed that complex research is best
conducted if different specialised entities run specific pieces of
the research rather than one company pretending that it has the
competency to run all the pieces.
As
current conflicts between great nations and feeble military juntas no
doubt demonstrate, no one really wins a war. Perhaps, the days of
valiant battlefield cries and brandishing might are over. Instead,
pragmatism dictates that the focus should be to find areas of
collaboration in the interest of the mission. When considering
workplace rivalry or market competition, bigger (or stronger) is no
longer better, focused is.
”The
general who advances without coveting fame and retreats without
fearing disgrace, whose only thought is to protect his country and do
good service for his sovereign, is the jewel of the kingdom,” says
Sun Tzu
Venugopal Gupta, Founder, The Business Parables (INSEAD MBA ’06J)
Read
more at
http://knowledge.insead.edu/blog/insead-blog/turning-competition-into-collaboration-3737#tE51exquAUW7D4Mb.99
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