Win or Lose? - Time For A Change!

All too often professionals look at the dynamics in the workplace in very stark ways. Most see it in what I term as "win or lose". The meaning of this dynamic is pretty clear - either a professional wins or loses. The battles and skirmishes are seen in any number of ways: political battles, technology choices, strategic vision disagreements, etc. While this is a common view, an alternative one that I learned from my mentors and from the wisdom shared by a Nobel Peace Prize winner has worked for me over the years - "meaningful engagement".

In every professional engagement the pursuit of a goal along commonly accepted wisdom has not always benefited the individual. Rather another way to view professional interactions is based on the concept that individuals can meet and interact with others in meaningful and enlightening ways that create a sense of fulfillment and enlightenment.

In more simpler terms it is a way to view events and outcomes as learning and enrichment events as opposed to conflicts. There are skirmishes about all manner of things, egos that get bruised, reputations being tarnished, etc. Or so individuals believe. In truth all of these conflicts amount to no more negativity toward ones overall lifestyle than a random rude comment from a passing stranger.

Interestingly there are in fact many companies that do not fall prey to such views. Many innovative companies such as Toyota and Google create balanced perspectives while competing with others in the marketplace. For example fostering camaraderie among their employees to promote a sense of teamwork that teaches respect for others even while disagreeing, and humility where everyday customers who know less about topics than their specialist vendors are thanked and respected as experts on what they want rather than berated or belittled.

In even the young entrepreneurs of today's hyper-competitive marketplace, they exhibit strong mentoring and collaborative beliefs that result in them working together and sharing insights. Yet these would be considered highly inappropriate actions and in some cases undesirable characteristics by many professionals and mangers in today's established companies.

For companies, disagreements will always continue but the successful organizations will be the ones that can learn to tap into and harness the changing perspectives in the future generation of talented professionals.