Competition & Cooperation

Polarity number three is COMPETITION & COOPERATION. While some progressives disparage competition, and some modernists overemphasize it, competition can be a powerful value creator. However, when it is not moderated by its polar counterpart of cooperation, competition can devolve into a dog-eat-dog condition wherein defensiveness saps productivity. Conversely, cooperation by itself, without the incentive or opportunity for individual excellence or creativity, can similarly devolve into groupthink or stifling bureaucratic mediocrity. But when competition and cooperation are brought together in a mutually correcting relationship that provides for both *challenge and support,* the value-creating potential of each side is maximized.