Yesterday I spoke with a woman who has been building a project for some years now and expressed her frusteration about a million-dollar company stealing her ideas.
I could relate to her and thought how it's such a nasty game out there: How the sharks eat the small fish, and how I've been both the shark and the small fish...
As a small fish you're in a large pool full of other small fish like you and you have to struggle and work your ass off to stand out and be unique - even if this means destroying the small fish around you and eating them up so you can grow into a shark where you'll be like the elite and get these fabulous oppurtunities.
Yet - as the shark you are constantly on edge about losing. Constantly stressed because you have to keep up appearances and work to maintain your position. You have to constantly study the competition around you, find their weaknesses and take what you can from them and build something better on your own.
The worst of you comes out when you desire to be at the top (and I know this from personal experience - living and experiencing MY worst in business). When you're on "the top" - you can't sit around and glorify in it all - you have to keep up and protect your throne from being threatened by the younger, intelligent and creative competition (a.k.a. the smaller fish). They will do whatever they can to take you down so they can be at the top of the food chain.
I'm in the process of working on my relationship with business and competition, because like I said - I've been on both sides of the spectrum and they're not pretty, and no side is good.
So I'm currently exploring the question: Is it possible to drive your business to success without losing your dignity? What are healthy practices to apply in business that doesn't destroy you as a person? How can you protect your work and content from being stolen? Is that even possible, or is it a simple matter of acceptance and moving on?