The Case for Competition

Providing results are fairly measured,  goals are clear.

The Case for Competition  in Strategy+Business

When team members face off, it’s the whole organization that wins.
by Charles Donkor, Gretchen Anderson, and Varun Bhatnagar

In 2017, the telecommunications industry underwent intense consolidation. The leadership’s nerves were fraying at one leading European telecom, and a team of advisors was called in (some of us among them) to improve the organization’s overall effectiveness.

At the project kickoff meeting, sidelong glances and cleared throats signaled to us that there was skepticism surrounding this topic, something below the surface that wasn’t being said. Finally, with prodding, we were able to get one of the leadership team members to open up.

“I’m just not that sure that we can all get together and talk about teaming without acknowledging something: We are all deeply, deeply competitive,” he said. “And I don’t think that’s going to go away.”  ... "