Growing up, we have always been made to believe that life is all about competition and survival of the fittest. Every parent wants their child to take first position in class, be the best behaved, win all the medals in sports, the list goes on and this goes with us throughout our education and life in general. There is always one competition or the other but what happens after the competition, what happens after the best is picked, what happens after the winner emerges, the others are being treated as 2nd class, unworthy of being heard of.
Of a truth, competition brings out the best in you and all things being equal opens you up for respect and celebration but in reality, there's a better way to achieve success. It called collaboration.
It has been said over time that if you want to go fast, go alone but if you want to go far, go with people and alone we are smart but together we are brilliant.
Now I'll tell a story in different versions to help us understand the beauty of Collaboration.
One day the hare realizing how fast he was and how slow the turtle was, challenged the turtle to a race. The turtle agreed and the race began,the hare started off so fast that he got tired and decided to rest for a while, it slept off during the process, while it was fast asleep, the turtle got to his point, passed him and eventually won the race.
We all are familiar with this part of the story of which the popular lesson is slow and steady wins the race
The story did not end there, the hare wasn't actually happy that the turtle won the race, he believed he was actually careless and excessively proud, so he challenged the turtle to another race which the turtle agreed to. The race begun and thus time, the hare started with full speed and all the way to the end of the race. He won this time.
Moral lesson :fast and consistent will always beat the slow and steady, it's good to be slow and steady, but it's better to be fast and reliable .Now i bet you think the hare has been able to prove it's point but surely the turtle wasn't convinced, he had won the race before but on the hare's carelessness and knowing fully well that the hare would not always be careless, it had no chance, so this time, the turtle challenged the hare to another race but changed the routes. The hare accepted and the race begun again, this time the hare moved with speed as usual while the turtle moved at it's own pace, the hare then got a a point where it had to cross a river, it stood there but couldn't move, the turtle caught up with the hare, got to the river, swam to the other side and finished the race.
Moral lesson:identify your core competency, then change the game to suit your core competencyThe turtle and the hare then started reasoning together, they realized they had competencies to both win the race so they decided to go on another race. This time, the hare carried the turtle and started off with full speed and when they got to the river side, the turtle carried the hare and they both swan to the otherside after which the hare continued with speed till the finish line. Now they both finished the race faster and together and were satisfied with how much they have achieved together
Moral lesson : it is good to be individually brilliant and have core competencies but until you're able to merge these core competencies to achieve a greater good, you'll always perform below par because sometimes you'll need someone that can function well where you function badly
Team work is about situational leadership, allowing the person with the core competency for that situation take care of the situation.
As a TEAM, together we achieve more and teamwork makes the Dream Work.
Collaboration is the better way to succeed and if you check closely, that's what steemit is about.
Thank you reading.