曾經有一個在業界打滾很久的人跟我說業務就是偷拐搶騙,用各種方法只要能完成交易、達到銷售的成果,就可以了,尤其是體現在B2C的業務上。那個當下,我其實不知道該怎麼樣回應,只是聽著。
前幾天,突然想起The Crown的女王和教授之間的一段話,那段話的背景是,邱吉爾因為兩度中風而兩次沒能參加和女王的私人會面,但instead of telling the true,他選擇隱瞞女王自身的健康狀況,說只是小感冒。女王得知後很生氣,也和教授提到這件事,教授就接著問女王會怎麼做?女王雖然生氣,卻說她不會做任何事。
Elizabeth: I can't summon the brightest, most formidable men in the country and give them a dressing down.
Professor: Why? you are in the right, they in the wrong.
Elizabeth: Yes, but they're far more intelligent than I am. Any confrontation, they'd out-debate me, out-think me and out-maneuver me.
Professor: But this isn't about education or intelligence. This is about integrity and principle.
這段對話之後,女王就把邱吉爾找來談話,堅定的表達立場:
Elizabeth: Is your health better now?
Churchill: It is.
Elizabeth: Good. But is it sufficiently better? Fit for office better? I would ask you to consider your response in light of the respect that my rank and my office deserve, not that which my age and gender might suggest.
昨天花了一個晚上看完The Apprentice,雖然真人秀就是會有drama的成分在,但Jessica卻能在競爭者的惡意競爭與衝突下,保持她的高度,她數次提到真實與integrity,後來在後續訪談,她說:
Let them look at you and you look at the finish line. Taking the high road is not very pleasant. When they go low, you go how. I don’t need to sabotage them to win the competition. They are gonna be their own demise.
我花了一點時間在想競爭這件事,我認同競爭的概念,不管是什麼層次,個人、團隊、組織、公司,乃至城市、國家,競爭是讓自己在做的事情和他人在做的事情,有一個參照物,並且讓自己的產物變得更好的機制。就如無限賽局裡面提到,競爭作為必要的要素存在,就如一個偉大的棋手,需要另一個旗鼓相當的棋手,那是超脫勝負,追求已臻完美的境界,需要這樣另一個強大的對手,而自己能感到thriving。
這個是良性競爭,而非惡性競爭。
我記得直屬主管曾經問我這個問題,不怕客戶被搶,來自另一位同事的競爭嗎?老實說,我從來沒想過會被問到這個問題,我覺得內部團隊是要合作,要把公司能吃到的餅做大,畢竟做的是世界的市場,互相競爭只是內耗。
有很多我覺得非常疑惑的價值觀存在著,但我還是待了。
於是,事情都串連起來,本質上都是一樣的,不管是業務要用偷拐搶騙,或是內部團隊搶客戶式的競爭,這是只會導致內耗的惡性競爭,because you are looking at others, rather than looking at the goal we are trying to achieve. 同時間也傷害integrity。
如果是出於要生存的目的,或許在生存的真實意義上,我可以接受這件事情,但從一個旁觀者的角度,我認為,其實是可以beyond生存,can do much better。