Hmmmmm… is this a trend developing? First Guy Kawasaki. Now Mike Neiss, over at Tom Peter’s blog, has the balls to state that good-old, plain, in-your-face competition is good:
Sitting out a snowstorm recently (in Michigan, winter is not done with
us yet), my wife and I watched a couple of great documentaries. First
was Murderball, a chronicle of the quadriplegic rugby international games. Then it was Mad Hot Ballroom,
a doc on the ballroom dancing competition for 11-year-old New York
public school kids. Both brilliant films. And because I find it
difficult to completely disengage from my love of organizational
dynamics, I observed a great lesson for our enterprises in these gems.
In both situations, the talent involved had personal, and even
physical, challenges to overcome. But what drove the players in each
documentary was good-old, plain, in-your-face competition. They wanted
to win. Not make this a better world, not meet some greater societal
obligation, not satisfy shareholders … they just wanted to beat their
competition. In the case of Murderball, that can be taken literally.
Repeat after me. Profit is good. Capitalism is good. Selling is good. Winning is good. Competing is good. None of these words or concepts require qualification or equivocation. They stand on their own. And represent the pillars of the American success story. No ifs, ands or buts required.
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