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We Should all be Competing to become the best Collaborator

Competition is inherent to human nature. We compete is so many ways throughout our daily lives.

Competition isn't bad and can actually be quite fun. However, it becomes less fun, when it comes at the expense of progressing the whole.

One thing I learned from studying Bitcoin over the past few years is the importance of collaboration with the view to progressing the whole. Bitcoin works so well as a system because it solves the Byzantine General's problem.

The Byzantine General's problem can be summarized as a question:

How do you make sure that multiple entities, which are separated by distance, are in absolute full agreement before an action is taken?

In Bitcoin's case, all nodes in the distributed system must agree on a certain set of rules, and be able to move forward by agreeing on a particular transaction before it is added to the database.

In our case, we can think of the nodes in the network as us and our businesses.

It may be best to ask oneself the question:

"what is the best strategy to take in relation to growing my business, that will also help the growth of the economy/market as a whole".

I think this is why one should compete to become the best collaborator.

Collaboration is all about progressing as a whole.

Competing with yourself to grow a product or service offering that is unique to you and your skillset, while collaborating with others who have complimentary products and services is a win-win for all involved.

If you want to follow along, you can check out more of what is going on at Startup Sanctuary

  1. 3

    Great post Gordon. People sometimes focus too much on their problems and forget to collaborate with others.

    1. 1

      Thanks @RubenJS. I know , myself included. This is as much a reminder for myself as for others!

  2. 2

    Good stuff. This is something I've thought about lately too. Focus on helping others and in turn you may find opportunities you didn't have before.

    1. 1

      Absolutely @hiddentao. You can't go wrong by providing value to others!

  3. 2

    As a person that has mainly tried to do everything himself, I like the idea of embracing collaboration to lift everybody up in a win-win scenario.

  4. 2

    Competing makes you put effort. Effort makes you build great things :)
    In my case it helped me build a great side-project.

  5. 2

    I like this approach, community support seems like a good way to gain traction/feedback/support rather than try and do everything on your own and market your way to success.

  6. 2

    why compete at all?

    1. 2

      I think one should compete with oneself to grow a product or service offering that is unique to ones skillset.

      The gem cannot be polished without friction nor man without trials. - Confucius

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