Competition and Conscious Capitalism

Several things hit me about this video.

The first was that I laughed when he talked about starting businesses out of college instead of getting good grades. Yep, that sounds familiar. I’m not incredibly enamored of the mainstream educational systems that exist. Most of you know that already.

The second was the explanation of how both parties profit in a successful transaction; both sides win. The economics of this are awesome, and always make me a little bit excited. Results build on results build on results, and no charity is necessary.

But the big thing that struck me was the part about competition. An organization like Acumen Fund needs competition in order to accomplish its mission. It needs other people doing what Acumen Fund does, doing it better and more effectively, raising the bar for everyone, driving interest and young minds to get involved and change to be made in the world. Acumen Fund can’t accomplish its mission all by itself.

I believe that we all need this kind of competition in order to be the best we can be. This is why cutting down your competition instead of supporting your competition is insane. Quit worrying about the other guy and step up your game. The goal is not for you to win. The goal is for everybody to win.

I thought about my work with Charlie Gilkey and I thought, man, Not everybody can work with Charlie Gilkey, even if he’s the best dude for them to work with. Not everybody can work with Tim Brownson even if he’s the greatest life coach on the planet. Marty can only do so much illustration in a year; he can’t do this work for everybody. All these guys can accomplish an enormous amount, and still not affect everyone on the globe by themselves. And me, I can only consult and generate and write and design so many hours a day. There’s only so much time in the day for any of us. We need competition not only because it makes us better, but because combined with our competition, we can reach so many more people. More people get help. More people see change. This is benefit on a worldwide scale. As conscious capitalists we’re not out to profit for ourselves, though profit must be a piece of the pie in order for us to build bigger and stronger. We’re out to build a culture that thrives and supports itself, a healthy system filled with people who have meaning and vitality in their lives.

I just can’t think of anything better than that.

Tagged as: Acumen Fund, competition, conscious capitalism, Seth Godin