From Competition to Co-Creator

Competition.

This mindset/lens is so prevalent and accepted in the corporate, charity, and entertainment worlds that we rarely pause to think about alternatives.

Of course, competition is part of our nature and something we have in common with the animal kingdom. However, in the animal world competition results in balance and sustainability (unless man intervenes). The issue with competition as expressed through human beings, is that we’re destroying the planet and the mental/physical health of humanity. The competition mindset is sustained by the belief of separation  and the need to compete for scarce resources.

Yet human beings have much more potential and choices – but these options tend to remain unexplored, due to the dominance of the default mode.

Consider Jos de Blok and how he founded and still runs Buurtzorg; he has gone down a different pathway. We could call this mindset and operating model Co-Creator; an attitude and belief that life has unlimited possibility, we are all connected and there is plenty of everything. This translates into a strategy is living the question of: what wants to happen through me/us?

One (radical) expression of this mindset is coaching and training (for free) other companies in the sector into the Buurtzorg ways of working i.e. openly sharing what has made Buurtzorg so successful. Where is your organisation on this spectrum of competition to Co-creator? Where would you like to be?

I’ve done extensive research on what Co-creator looks like in practice. If you’re ready to explore how to open this process of renewal, please get in contact – via LinkedIn message or email paul@aum-consult.com.