By Jonathan Dahl
In my early days as a professional journalist, cranky old editors would sometimes try to stir up what they loved to call “creative tension” by sending out two reporters on the same story. The idea was to see which one came back with the best piece. This diabolical competition, the editors liked to think, would bring out the best in both reporters.
The practice was rarely deployed (at least to my knowledge), but I
find it difficult today to imagine any manager today ordering up, or endorsing, this kind of competition. In business, most established
firms long ago abandoned the practice of promoting brutal cutthroat competition among colleagues. Today, your “competitor” is any company in the same industry that’s vying for the same customers
or clients. So declaring open warfare on your colleagues isn’t just
a waste; it’s borderline harassment.
Yet the Games routinely, often brutally, pit men and women from
the same country against one another. Even if they’re on the same team, so to speak, they must beat each other to qualify for the Games. And hey, it seems to work: It acquaints the athletes with the pressure of competition, and it showcases their talents on the world stage.
The
Competitive Spirit
View Contents
We’re at our best when we compete against ourselves, not others.”
“
Read more about
Closing Ceremonies
Winning It All—After Hours
Winning It All—After Hours
The (Tough) Economics of the Games
The (Tough) Economics of the Games
So what can businesses do to replicate this kind of competition (and its results)? In a study for the Harvard Business Review, researchers observed managers as they evaluated two ways for motivating competitive spirit. With one group, the managers used fear (threatening to take away their bonuses), and with the other, excitement (pointing out the benefits of victory). Naturally, getting people excited about winning produced the best results, whereas fostering anxiety made people freeze up. “As we have seen,” the researchers said, “leaders need to invest energy generating excitement by highlighting the potential positive consequences
of competition.”
To me, it’s all a fancy way of saying that we’re at our best when we compete against ourselves, not others. It’s less obvious in sports, I think, but it’s often the athletes who want to win for themselves, not beat others, who become the real stars. Our own Mark Richardson,
a Korn Ferry partner who won a silver medal in the 1996 Summer Games, has said as much himself, distinguishing between “intrinsic” and “extrinsic” motivation. And who among us is going to argue
with a silver medalist?
“A leader’s challenge is to create the conditions that flood employees with that intrinsic motivation,” says Richardson. Maybe we need a competition for that.
Home
The Competitive Spirit
Winning It All—After Hours
The (Tough) Economics
of the Games
Post Game-Day
Leadership at the Top
World-Class Athletes on the Job
Every Four Years: The Challenge of Staying Long-Term
Why it's better to challenge
yourself, not just others.
Naturally, getting people excited about winning produced the best results, whereas fostering anxiety made people freeze up.
“
Jonathan Dahl is Chief Content Officer for Korn Ferry
Read more about Closing Ceremonies
So what can businesses do to replicate this kind of competition (and its results)? In a study for the Harvard Business Review, researchers obser-ved managers as they evaluated two ways for motivating comp-etitive spirit. With one group, the managers used fear (threatening to take away their bonuses), and with the other, excit-ement (pointing out the benefits of victory). Nat-urally, getting people excited about winning produced the best results, whereas fostering anxiety made people freeze up. “As we have seen,” the researchers said, “leaders need to invest energy generating excitement by high-lighting the potential positive consequences
of competition.”
To me, it’s all a fancy way of saying that
we’re at our best when we compete against ourselves, not others. It’s less obvious in sports, I think, but it’s often the athletes who want to win for themselves, not beat others, who become the real stars. Our own Mark Richardson, a Korn Ferry partner who won
a silver medal in the 1996 Summer Games, has said as much himself, distinguishing between “intrinsic” and “extrinsic” motivation. And who among us is going to argue with a silver medalist?
“A leader’s challenge is to create the cond-itions that flood employees with that intrinsic moti-vation,” says Richardson. Maybe we need a competition for that.
View Contents
Home
The (Tough) Economics of the Games
Winning It All—After Hours
The Competitive Spirit
Post Game-Day
Winning...with a Work-Life Balance?
Eye for a Star
Know Thyself
Leadership at the Top
Where Are They Now?
Snaring Medals...And Then, Consulting?
The Home Office, with Trophies in the Closet
World-Class Athletes on the Job
Every Four Years: The Challenge
of Staying Long-Term