Two giants of the tech world united recently to achieve something: Uber, the ride-sharing service, will be teaming with Spotify to allow you to stream playlists in your car.
This is big news, as it deserves to be. It also reminds us of the importance of cooperation in business: How vital it is to always keep your eye out for the people and services that can help you take your own work to the next level.
Competition is, obviously, a huge key to business success. And a competitive attitude brings about substantial benefits: It keeps you focused on moving ahead, doing better, continuously improving your products, services and skills to stay ahead of the game. Without a competitive attitude, it’s easy to become complacent, and complacent companies eventually become irrelevant companies.
Yet it’s also important to realize that noone – and no service – can be all things to all people. Being aware and attuned to the excellence of others in your field and rooting for others to succeed allows you to take advantage of the strategic partnerships and win-win deals that can take your business to the next level.
The Uber-Spotify partnership is an excellent example of this: Uber doesn’t want to become the premier streaming music service in the world. Spotify doesn’t want to master transportation. Buteveryone loves to have a great tune on in the car while they’re getting from one place to the next, and the one thing these two businesses do have in common is a commitment to totally dominating their respective fields. Not only does a partnership benefit them both practically, it boosts the image of both Uber and Spotify by allying eachwith the other’s excellent brand.
This isn’t onlyrelevant to partnerships with outside companies. Team-building and creating an excellent company is about picking the people who can truly communicate and cooperate with each other. Great executives can have big egos – as they should! They’ve earned all of that success! – but it’s important for everyone in the building to realize what they can and cannot accomplish on their own. When everyone is on the same page and firmly committed to a vision, individual recognition becomes less important than scoring a win for the team.
Today, take a look at your own strengths and weaknesses – honestly – and take a moment to assess the people in your life whose strengths compliment the areas where you could use help. Try to see yourself as part of a larger vision, and see who you can tap to truly make that vision a reality. Competition has gotten you this far; cooperation may be the secret key to getting farther than you could have imagined possible.
Image credit: CC by Aidan Jones
