Competition: A Help Or A Hindrance?
At a party last week, things got fairly intense around a casual game of Articulate. The couple next to be were in fits of rage with another, over their inability to guess the other’s through process. Their rampant competitiveness slowed them down in the end, as they seemed to spend more time yelling at each other than playing the game. So is competitiveness a help or a hindrance when it comes to your career?
Killer Instinct
Finance seems to always be an area where competitiveness would thrive. After all, a lot of finance seems entrenched in status items- people who are wealthy wear nicer clothes, drive bigger cars, take longer holidays. Surely the killer edge is crucial when it comes to business decisions? But is there a point where your competitiveness can hamper your ability to make rational decisions, or even your career? Could the constant comparison to others be hindering your ability to make brave or courageous decisions? And could a culture of comparison and worker-against-worker be leaving workplaces bereft of innovation?
Grass Is Greener
Thomas J. DeLong suggests in CNN Money that it certainly can. For whatever reason- insecurity, a drive, a need to be the best- there are many people who are not only envious of other people’s success, they are genuinely pained by it. Your actual status in your career or level of professionalism doesn’t necessarily have any bearing on how you feel about your own finances or work- you could be on the top of the world, and yet always feel that other people have the jump on you.
Reasoning
Of course, no feeling comes from nowhere. There are factors that influence how people feel about other’s success. The fear of being the one who is let go from a company should they downsize, the breaking down of social taboos about who earns what. managers or employers who have ridiculous expectations of their staff and deliberately pit them against one another so as to achieve the best ‘results’ for their company. All of these factors can leave people chronically unhappy with their own position, and unable to resist comparing it to everyone else’s.
How To Break The Comparison Spiral
The effect on your career could be quite significant- you’ll end up paralysed, or leaving a perfectly good job in search of the mythical Other. In order to break the cycle, DeLong has the following suggestions. Articulate the story you tell yourself. It’s all modern-day pop psychology, but your thought processes can end up being a self-fulfilling prophecy. Articulating it out loud could be enough to illuminate how far the story is from reality or what you actually want. Focus on internal rewards- do you feel fulfilled, challenged? Is that less important than who has a groovier title? Project: what would your life be like if you were them? What about in 20 years time? Do you really want that? And finally, find someone you trust who’s advice you believe. Chances are heavily bent towards them telling you that that kind of thinking is getting you nowhere fast. Certainly, inspired decisions and work practices come from supportive workplaces and from people who feel secure in their position. If you can change the story you tell yourself, you might see very different results.
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