Isn't competition the key to financial success and progress?

How do you think people in general will answer the following questions?

 

Dave Pollard asked: "But isn't competitive behaviour exactly what business thrives on? Doesn't the rush of adrenaline and testosterone in the quest for competitive advantage and 'winning' yield high productivity, sharpened customer focus, and more new ideas" (Pollard, 2004, part 2)? 

 

Dave Pollard was Chief Knowledge Officer for Ernst & Young in Canada since 1994 until recently, following twenty years as an Entrepreneurial Services practitioner, left to establish his own consultancy, Meeting of Minds, and continues his highly regarded blog, "How to Save the World."

 

Let's find out how Pollard views competition: "I would argue that competition is at best a neutral factor in engendering innovation, and may in fact be detrimental" (Pollard, 2004, part 2). 

 

"...innovation is the most important determinant of every business' success, and perhaps even the quality of our lives" (Pollard, 2004, part 1).

 

"... many businesses are now reaching out to involve customers, alliance partners and even competitors in their problem-solving teams, because they help bring different points of view to the creative process, and because these external partners share both the defined problem and the sense of urgency with the internal team. In a world of accelerating change, no competitive advantage is sustainable -- innovations and new technologies can almost instantly reinvent industries, products, services, and offerings, and eliminate any competitive advantage the old ones may have had" (Pollard, 2004, part 2).

 

"Cooperation is Replacing Competition: Competition is now dysfunctional, a vestige of earlier times of resource scarcity, and cooperation is now essential to effective innovation" (Pollard, 2004, part 2).

 

References

 

Pollard, D. (2004, April 13). How to save the world, part 1. Retrieved May 3, 2004 from http://blogs.salon.com/0002007/2004/04/13.html#a697.

 

Pollard, D. (2004, April 20). How to save the world, part 2. Retrieved May 3, 2004 from http://blogs.salon.com/0002007/2004/04/20.html#a705.