Fighting: for or against?
Same action, different battle
This week I opened a can of worms at my organisation by asking why we choose to ‘fight’ against the competition. Not to say it is the wrong thing to do; I wanted to understand what the reasoning was behind that decision. There is in my view a big difference between fighting against and fighting for.
If you are fighting against the competition, you are inevitably going to win and lose. When you lose, you might get more motivated to win again, however, it often creates also a lot of negative feelings (and behaviour, language, and actions) that can cloud your judgement and decision-making.
If you win, it’s ecstatic. High fives, bonuses, celebrations, ‘We are the best’, etc. What I have seen in reality, however, is that the positive feeling last for a (very) short term and a level of anxiety is becoming bigger and bigger. Now that we won how do we keep it that way? It is waiting until the other team beats you before you can ‘play’ again. That unknown ‘when’ feeling creates lots of beliefs and behaviours that are not always efficient and effective in the long term.
Follow or lead?
This is where I see the world a little different. I like to fight for things. Create a vision of what your view of the world is regarding your industry. The stronger that vision is felt in your organisation, the better it is. This creates a unique portfolio, an experimental way of working and, an almost natural willingness to focus on your customer's needs. The outcome of this is almost automatically leading up to market share, revenue, growth, innovation, etc. BUT… In my honest opinion, this approach creates more innovative thinking, fewer feelings of stress, pressure, frustrations, chaotic product backlogs, 5 years locked in roadmaps, plans and budgets.
I am still fighting, the difference is I am fighting for my vision instead of fighting against others
I personally have been acting in both ways of working and I’m probably not the only one. When I started my career I was in that ‘fight against’ mode. I was looking at others to acknowledge my own performance (‘I’m doing better than they are, so I should get paid more’). I was keeping track of the moments I did a better job than someone else. I was comparing my own skills to others so I could sign up for the next course. Very common behaviour actually.
Over the last few years, I have changed my thinking and behaviour. I created my own vision and goals. Looking at what I want to do because I love doing it and because I think it can be very useful. Now I focus on how to get there without constant battling against others. I keep an eye out from a curious point of view on what to improve and gain, but also what not to do. I stopped comparing myself to others and pushing myself to go faster because that one person is going faster. I feel less stressed to take next steps, less pressured, and less anxious to fail.
I am still fighting, the difference is I am fighting for my vision instead of fighting against others.
