Roxanne you say that competition doesn't make sense at any level. I can't
accept that.
If you are referring to in-house competition then I tend to agree, but
only to a point. Certainly I don't agree if you are referring to
inter-company competition. Good or bad, inter-company competition is a
fact of life, and it is a positive force that encourages innovation, and
improvement.
As Hamel and Prahald point out in "Competing for the Future" the
successful organizations of the future will be those that learn the
fastest, and compete successfully for core competency leadership. I
quote: "However lean and fit an organization, it still needs a brain. But
the brain we have in mind is not the brain of the CEO, or strategic
planner. Instead it is an amalgamation of the collective intelligence and
imagination of managers and employees throughout the company who must
possess and enlarged view of what it means to be strategic.
I also think we can use competition in training sessions in-house,
provided we make it clear to participants that the competitor is "out
there" not in here. The basic purpose being to motivate people to work
together to ensure their mutual survival. I like the idea of seeking core
competency leadership, this for me is what learning organizations are
about. Learning faster, learning more, working together, supporting each
other, encouraging each other, encouraging innovation, being the best you
can be, and being yourself.
Peter H. Jones
Peopletronics Limited, PO Box 30 451, Lower Hutt, New Zealand.
phj@actrix.gen.nz http://www.peopletronics.co.nz
Tel. 64 4 569 8875, Fax. 64 4 569 8881
--"Peter H. Jones" <phj@actrix.gen.nz>
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>