“Competition has been shown to be useful up to a certain point and no further, but co-operation, which is the thing we must strive for today, begins where competition leaves off” (Franklyn D Roosevelt 1882-1945).
I am a highly competitive person – or was in my youth. I loved to win – whether it was in sport or a debate/argument. As a student I even saw exams as a competition between myself and the examiner. So I am not against competition per se and believe young people should be introduced to it. They need to learn to compete and to deal with both “failure” and success. This is partly why HES introduced an online student start-up competition to promote Harmonious Entrepreneurship. (Healey-Benson and Kirby, 2024).
However, during my professional career I have also witnessed the downside of competition – where people are so competitive that if they cannot “win” they will prevent others from doing so, even within, and to the detriment of, their own organisations.
Recently I met with a highly entrepreneurial woman who has a social enterprise focused on a problem that affects both men and women in society. She is passionate about it and has put a tremendous amount of effort into it. Her commitment is beginning to pay off and benefit those she is aiming to help, but instead of collaborating with her and reinforcing her efforts some “competitors” are not just opposing her but behaving threateningly towards her.
This sort of incident is neither new nor unique. Sadly, it is typical of the destructive side of competition, the competition that hinders rather than expedites the search for solutions to the problems the world is facing, problems that are of our creation.
If we are to solve the global sustainability challenge, as indeed we must, we need entrepreneurship and the competition that comes with it. We need also, however, to learn not only how to use competition to enhance our performance but how to work in harmony with each other and our environment. At all levels we must “strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development” (SDG17 Partnerships for the Goals).
As Henry Ford observed “Competition whose motive is merely to compete, to drive some other fellow out, never carries very far”.
Reference
Healey-Benson, F., & Kirby, D.A. (2024). The Harmonious Entrepreneurship Online Global Student Competition: An Example of Meaningful Extracurricular Entrepreneurship Education. In S. Preedy & Beaumont, E. (Eds).Extracurricular Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Activity: A Global and Holistic Perspective (Contemporary Issues in Entrepreneurship Research, Vol. 19), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 45-57. https://doi.org/10.1108/S2040-724620240000019004
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