There ’ s an evolutionary basis for why humans , and toggle between cooperation and competition .
books the discount rate ) used to justify potential international expansion needs to be adjusted for the increased risks of taking that step . A pro- posed Starbucks in Senegal , for example , should use risk calculations different from those for a possible Starbucks in Seattle .
It ’ s difficult to argue with the logic of this data-centric approach to strategy . But we journalists don ’ t always share the faith of social scientists that if we could just get our hands on the right data , everything that matters could be calculated with great precision . Too frequently — the 2008 finan- cial crisis , Superstorm Sandy , the Arab Spring , the 2016
Brexit vote , terrorist attacks in Europe — events roll out in ways that defy precision , amplify risk , and confound the best-laid plans .
Frenemies with BeneFIts
Uncertainty doesn ’ t pertain simply to the way events un- fold . There ’ s also great uncertainty in the relationships we have with one another as individuals , managers , and executives . In Friend & Foe : When to Cooperate , When to Compete , and How to Succeed at Both , Adam Galinsky and Maurice Schweitzer describe how to understand and navigate this ambiguity successfully . “[ The ] question — should we cooperate or should we compete — is often the wrong one ,” write the authors . “ Our most important relationships are neither cooperative nor competitive . Instead , they are both . Rather than choosing a single course of action , we need to understand that cooperation and competition often occur simulta- neously and we must nimbly shift between the two , and that how we navigate the tension between these seemingly opposite behaviors gives us profound in- sight into human nature .” ( The authors themselves represent this dynamic : Galinsky teaches manage- ment at Columbia Business School , and Schweitzer teaches at the University of Pennsylvania ’ s Wharton School . The two institutions are fierce rivals for students and faculty .)
This is a fine strategy for going through life , but also for thriving in compet- itive arenas , such as business and sports . To buttress their case , the authors draw on research not just from the social sciences ( psychology , economics , sociology , political science ) but also from
There ’ s an evolutionary basis for why humans , and toggle between cooperation and competition .
animal studies that reveal the primal essence of it all and neuroscience that purportedly reveals that the tension between cooper- ation and competition is “ wired into the very architecture of the human brain .”
It turns out there ’ s an evolutionary basis for why humans , and the organizations they build , toggle between cooperation and competition . Galinsky and Schweitzer write that three “ fundamental forces ” impel us to act as both friends and foes : Resources are scarce ; humans are social beings ; and our social world is inherently unstable and dynamic . In other words , not everyone can have everything they want , so most of us are compelled to compromise more often than we ’ d like .
The same fundamental forces are at work in the corporate arena , as well . And we can see this in hypercompetitive realms . Take bicycling . In the Tour de France , resources — stage victories — are scarce and the outcomes are al- ways uncertain . So it ’ s not uncommon to see riders and teams , all of whom are seeking their own glory , cooperate to set the pace , chase down breakaways , and deny victories to others . Or take entertainment and media . Resources such as advertising dollars and viewers have become scarce for incumbents . The future of distribution and business models is highly uncertain . So a handful of com- panies that usually exert great effort to dominate one another — Disney , Time Warner , 21st Century Fox , and Comcast — have joined forces to build Hulu as a content platform . In the automotive industry , companies that compete fiercely have banded together to support fundamental research on alternative fuels and batteries , and to develop common standards . Galinsky and Schweitzer argue , correctly , that circumstances should dictate the ways in which we relate to our counterparts on a strategic level . At the end of the day , we ’ re all frenemies .
Duff McDonald duffmcd @ me . com is a columnist at the New York Observer and author of The Firm : The Story of McKinsey and Its Secret Influence on American Business ( Simon and Schuster , 2013 ) and Last Man Standing : The Ascent of Jamie Dimon and JPMorgan Chase ( Simon and
Schuster , 2009 ). He is working on a book about Harvard Business School .
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