Rewind. Learning to live with competition

As a rookie mechanical engineer, Radhika enjoyed every minute of her two-year MBA programme. The only flaw was the relentless competition in a class full of bright managers-to-be. Five years later, working as a senior manager in a large and dynamic engineering firm, she realises the situation is far worse – stress due to peer group comparisons is on the rise, affecting productivity. Competition is frequently treated as a necessary evil. Usual approaches towards competition can have the following consequences: insecurity-led choices leading to low job satisfaction, low team spirit, decreased co-operation, low individual and group productivity due to stress with its consequent psychological and physical ailments and high turnover of skilled manpower.

How then can we improve things?

Running the “rat race” without becoming a rat. Experts of holistic living say that competition is unnecessary and wasteful. The following are four useful concepts:

Competition presupposes sameness of people whereas in reality, every inhabitant of this planet is unique. One needs to ask what it is that makes them different from others. The answer can be used as a tool for useful self-differentiation. Tools such as the Johari window, SWOT (strength-weakness-opportunity-threat) analysis and mindful journal writing help discover unique traits, skills and talents.

It is critical to periodically re-assess goals, in the light of strengths. Else, one may continue working along paths that yield sub-optimal results – not because of insufficient hard work but because the task is not aligned with inclinations and abilities. For example, a very senior executive working with a national bank has for long nursed dreams of becoming the bank’s chairman. He is also aware that he is technically skilled, such as in economic analysis and forecasting, but not equally equipped to deal with people. This awareness, coupled with an understanding of the duties that the chairman’s post entails, might make him reconsider his goal. Would he then be better placed elsewhere, say, as a special advisor to an institution, like World Bank, where his strong analytical skills and knowledge of macro-economics would make him invaluable? This analysis might lead to mutually satisfying outcomes for the nationalised bank, the World Bank and the senior executive.

Competition sometimes arises from a misguided sense of purpose, a fear-propelled need to constantly look over one’s shoulder to see what the others are doing. It helps to realise that the only thing one can truly control is one’s own efforts – not the environment, one’s colleagues or bosses, or the state of the economy. Hence: a) Plan a desired outcome after carefully considering possible external variables b) Focus exclusively on efforts Competing with others thus gives way to competing with oneself; the challenge is to stretch intellectual, emotional and other capacities to do full justice to the task at hand.

It helps to place the seemingly all-important presentation, project or promotion against the backdrop of life. Taking a long-term perspective before zooming into the short-term helps fix appropriate priorities. This weeds out unnecessary competition and the misleading do-or-die attitude that sometimes leads executives to unproductive choices. Competing against others, while offering the same skills as others, is a choice with limited application.

Other choices include complementing skills and talents, and constantly competing with oneself to give the best. The intelligent manager may well consider stocking his basket of skills with all the above choices to be used as circumstances demand.

The writer is Director, VES Leadership Academy and Research Centre