Is Collaboration the New Competitiveness?

As I sit watching the Olympics, I find myself thinking about the role that competition plays in society.  The competitive spirit has been seen as the underlying force behind individual, business and national success for at least the past century.  Working your way to the top.  Corporate mergers devouring the competition.  The Cold War battle for supremacy.  Although I still get fired up watching Canada battle for a place on the podium, I can’t help but think that the time has come for the competitive spirit to step down to make room for the collaborative spirit as the new paradigm for success.

You can see examples of collaboration all around.  In politics, governments around the world are entering into coalitions to balance the varied interests of their societies.  In business, companies are tapping into the collective wisdom of the masses to find gold, create software, and build encyclopedias (Read “Wikinomics” and “The Long Tail” for great insights on this).  In society in general, unholy alliances of industry, NGOs, unions, Aboriginal peoples, and governments are popping up to tackle common issues, such as clean air, economic renewal, and nature conservation.

What’s driving all this collaboration?  I see three incentives:
Because we can - The communications revolution is allowing networks to form across disciplines, over distances and without need for expertise.  It’s now just as easy to collaborate with someone in another country as it is with someone right next door.

Because we should - Society has effectively dealt with the straight forward problems with clear solutions that experts and engineers are so good at solving (e.g., building bridges, going to the moon, etc).  We are left with the “wicked problems” that have no real solutions, and can only be adequately addressed through collaboration and compromise (e.g., urban planning, sustainable development, poverty alleviation, etc).

Because we must - Humanity is pushing up against the finite limits of our planetary ecosystem, and it is no longer possible to succeed at the expense of others without jeopardising our own medium- to long-term survival.  Climate change can’t be solved by Canada, but it also can’t be solved without Canada.

Don’t get me wrong, friendly competition is still a powerful motivating force to improve efficiencies, spur innovation, and generally make life interesting.  But in a world with no borders, finite resources and global problems, the survival of the fittest isn’t a measure of individual success – it requires a team effort.

Adam