Why do many people value being competitive? Competitiveness is about winning, and as a former Olympian said to me recently “Bernie at the top level of sport, its all about winning”. That’s the problem! If sportspeople approach sport with that attitude, what will they do to win? Or what won’t they do to win, say the Tour de France? This belief that competitiveness is a positive quality shows up at work too. Unfortunately there is a robust body of research (Human Synergistics) that shows the darker side of competitiveness. It was interesting to listen to Hamish Carter recently talking about the difference. At the Sydney Olympics, Carter was Competitive – he finished 26th in the triathalon! Four years later in Athens he was Achievement focused and won gold! Some of his quotes are “the essence of success comes out of failure”, “coming 26th in Sydney was a really important day for me”, “the key is how you turn failure into something more powerful”, ”I had to learn not to want it (winning)” and ”let the result go – you can’t control the result, only what you do” Hamish’s book ‘Get Carter’ has just been released. Might be a good read. We can replace competitive behaviours with achievement behaviours and enjoy greater success.
Competition stifles creativity, awareness and the freedom to pursue sustainable excellence. There is a great book called “No Contest” written by an American, Alfie Kohn. Alfie explores how the competitive system at school is limiting a child’s ability to learn and progress.