Collaboration - Competition = Synergy
System collaboration means integrating our traits and attributes with another in order to create a new reality that is greater than the sum of our individual systems. When we treat another brand as competition, we hinder the potential growth of a system that has similarities to our own. This is an example of thinking very small, and not considering the larger system we exist in.
I cannot tell you how many times I really disliked someone upon my first impression and later became best of friends with them because we actually had a lot in common. I think those commonalities are often seen as potential threats because that person is viewed as a competitor for the same, perceptibly scarce, resources. In reality, resources are not that scarce, and there IS enough to go around for everyone if we collaborate to create more, together.
Collaboration is how we develop our own passions with people who have similar interests and passions. Think of your passion as an industry. You are bettering your industry when you support others in the same, or similar, industry's, rather than competing and creating a win-lose situation. When someone in a similar industry loses, the larger system that embodies your passion also suffers. Collaboration strengthens your passions and opens the door up for more opportunity and competition weakens them and reduces the amount of resources available in the larger system.
When you support similar brands, or systems, you are ultimately supporting your own values in a way that allows for more growth in the larger system that you share. A person who is confident about their own skills, has a well-developed system and brand definition. They understand that the differentiation they created for themselves is supported by their life's work and cannot be replaced. They are not threatened by others in the same industry, instead, they reach out to similar brands in an effort to collaborate and strengthen the whole industry and further their own differentiation.
By strengthening the very industry that supports our passions, career, and livelihood, we make our own profession better and accelerate innovation within it.
I cannot tell you how many times I really disliked someone upon my first impression and later became best of friends with them because we actually had a lot in common. I think those commonalities are often seen as potential threats because that person is viewed as a competitor for the same, perceptibly scarce, resources. In reality, resources are not that scarce, and there IS enough to go around for everyone if we collaborate to create more, together.
Collaboration is how we develop our own passions with people who have similar interests and passions. Think of your passion as an industry. You are bettering your industry when you support others in the same, or similar, industry's, rather than competing and creating a win-lose situation. When someone in a similar industry loses, the larger system that embodies your passion also suffers. Collaboration strengthens your passions and opens the door up for more opportunity and competition weakens them and reduces the amount of resources available in the larger system.
When you support similar brands, or systems, you are ultimately supporting your own values in a way that allows for more growth in the larger system that you share. A person who is confident about their own skills, has a well-developed system and brand definition. They understand that the differentiation they created for themselves is supported by their life's work and cannot be replaced. They are not threatened by others in the same industry, instead, they reach out to similar brands in an effort to collaborate and strengthen the whole industry and further their own differentiation.
By strengthening the very industry that supports our passions, career, and livelihood, we make our own profession better and accelerate innovation within it.
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