While putting together my product pitch it became clear that an essential part of my service involves notions of competition vs. collaboration. For one, collaborative efforts with potential competition potentially creates a win/win strategy. I recall my readings on game theory in this regard. Further, my theatre/music group will involve artists and technical indivduals who are interested in 1) developing their own careers while 2) participating in projects that realize aesthetic gain and satisfaction. Anyone of us who has been part of a theatrical project of any size knows or should know this dynamic by now. If they don't? Well, better look back at your experiences and consider where you were, who you were with, what you were doing and the final results. This is not always about the paycheck is it? We, as artists, educators, and humans are meant to grow in all aspects of our personal and professional life. Loose that inspiration and you loose your edge.
Anyway, I got to thinking about WWii of all things. Consider the situation between the United States, England, and Russia. There was a palpable fear of Communism that pervaded this epochal time. The paranois went all ways however. Russia was equally concerned about possible threats to its ideology post-war. England was concerned that it was loosing it's 'competitive edge' and influence to the Americans. In other words, all three entities that were involved in forming the post-war society had their own agendas and concerns. This is how it should be. And this is hardly unique to this time period. This is an endless human and political concern that shows up in any number of manifestations.
The bottom line is that these three world powers along with ancillary powers understood that in order to end the war and negate the threat of Nazi Germany required collaboration at the expense and for the benefit of future competitive positioning. Yes, they were essentially building or creating a new product extension. And so collaboration and competition are not nearly the polar opposites that they may seem on the surface.
My thoughts and goals involve a deeper and more thoughtful understanding of this concept. To be sure, there is not singular answer to this concept. It is a constantly shiftying dynamic that requires notions of yin/yang (balance). That being said, it stands to create a win/win environment for the businesses and the customer engaged in this process. And make no mistake about it. We are all directly and/or indirectly involved in this dynamic simply because we breath, eat, sleep and communicate.
A look at the Laws of Power that we have read may indeed present a cynical point of view. Temper that with Maxwell's thinking and writing and somewhere between these schools of thought lies an acceptable and negotiated compromise.
Just a few thoughts.
Bill
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