Competition or Cooperation?

Which works better, competition or cooperation? 
The answer, without equivocation, is cooperation.

• Yet big business, the educational system, the health-care community, and most parents continue to encourage competition, almost totally neglecting the power of cooperation. 
• Unabated competition may be costing billions of dollars in sales and overall decreases in human achievement. 
• Too much competition may cause poor health. 
• We continue to hold the belief that competition is the royal road to success.
• While competition brings out the "beast" in us, cooperation brings out the "best" in us. 
• Cooperative scientists tend to have published more articles than their competitive colleagues. Cooperative business people have higher salaries. Cooperative students have higher grade point averages. Cooperation increases creativity. Unfortunately, most people are not taught cooperative skills. 
• A classroom teacher indirectly fosters competition. Yet people learn best when they work cooperatively with each other. Children who experience this type of learning at an early age carry it with them as they mature.
• More students feel good about themselves as learners when they cooperate. Their self-esteem goes up, they have a better sense of community, belonging, and acceptance. 
• Too much unsupported emphasis is placed on competition. The means by which individuals once learned cooperative skills are eroding.
• There are a lot of reasons to worry.  Some of the standard ways that people once learned to cooperate are not operating as they did a generation ago. Teaching young people how to cooperate does not receive the appropriate level of interest. As a result, competition breeds unabated. Few are teaching, practicing, or promoting a better idea.
• It is preferable to work with the school system. That way the next business generation could be taught how to be cooperative and influence corporate's. Once people experience cooperation, they find out that it's a better, even easier way.
• Cooperation has an impact on individuals working together in several key areas. It create a more fluid leadership and allows everyone to participate actively without fear of censure. Cooperation also has an impact on an individual's perception of the work environment. 
• Cooperation does much more than help people get along. Cooperative individuals adjust better, psychologically and physically healthier than their more competitive colleagues. 
• Competition, or the constant feeling that you have to work against something, has unhealthy physical side effects. Cooperation, and other pro-social/unselfish behaviors, tend to have positive side effects.
• Evidence suggests that cooperation generates a type of "runner's high." Like those individuals who exercise regularly, people who are cooperative and help others also experience a type of "high," which might better be described as calmness or sense of freedom from stress. This cooperation, not competition, is preferred. 
• Individuals who develop a cooperative stance feel more in control of their lives and do not live for approval from others. They tend to feel good in sharp contrast to the constant intensity of the competitive individual.
• Too much of a good thing can be a problem. In the case of cooperation, too much can lead to group-think, yes-man syndrome, or inappropriate conformity. 
• Caught up in cooperation they lose a critical respect for the issue, they can all decide to do the wrong thing unanimously. 
• Although a cooperative environment increases the number of ideas, improves the quality of the outcome, and facilitates a better working environment, cooperation must be done in such a way as to protect the integrity of the project at hand. Simply put, cooperation is the rule, but objectivity must be maintained. 

There are ways to facilitate cooperation, and they are the same no matter the environment, from big business to sports. 

• Focus on doing well. 
• Allow ample time. 
• Use similar language. 
• Share leadership. 
• Learn cooperative problem-solving tools. 
• Practice reciprocity.  
• Share resources and information. 
• Reinforce team efforts. 
• Act cooperatively. 
• For your health's sake, experience cooperation. 

Cooperation is a valuable commodity and works best when it is freely given and indirectly encouraged.  It promotes goodwill toward men and women, and is a gift that is always appropriate. And there's no better time to be cooperative.  After all, it is the season. 

Supporters of the current free-market economy argue that competition among producers ensures efficiency and keeps prices as low as possible. This argument sounds reasonable in theory, but in practice it sidelines workers and delivers much of the productive economy into the hands of a minority. The side effect is that while profits are privatized, risk is socialized while rich becomes richer and poor remains poor. On other hand, an economy based on cooperation will narrow the gap between rich and poor, and ultimately eradicate poverty.

Hostile cooperation is what exists between competitors who often cooperate with each other for greater rewards. A moderated desire to cooperate is natural and healthy. Those with non-cooperative natures would have very low survival rates. It is for this reason that people take a healthy enjoyment in belonging to a group, practicing teamwork, helping others, etc. War is an obvious example of deadly competition. In our competitive economy, those who lack the skills, education, talent or opportunity to compete will become poor. And the poor suffer from death rates that are at least six times higher than the rich. 

Most competitive situations are highly stressful; the possibility of failure creates agitation and anxiety. The fear or anger generated from being eliminated or losing often causes embarrassment, tension and hostility. Cooperative activities are non-threatening and non-judgmental. As a result, this creates an atmosphere for relaxation and well being, the foundation for more genuine, healthy and playful fun.

If lion runs slower than deer, lion will starve to death. 

If deer runs slower than lion, deer will get killed.

My View:
But imagine what it would be like to live in a society where each individual competes against everyone else, without any cooperation at all. In a perfectly competitive world, only the strongest or luckiest would survive. After killing off most of society, you would only find yourself among survivors who were highly competent killers themselves. And even if you emerged the final victor, the rewards would be slight. Society should never allow any one to grow and operative in no competition zone, under any circumstances.