The recently ended World Cup was an entangled web of relationships. Soccer Clubs from all over the world split up and headed to Brazil to play for their respective homelands.
For example, take a look at the US team and what Clubs these guys normally play for.
The US players craft their skills in 10 different countries with a total of 20 different clubs (according to wiki). That’s a pretty sizable net casted just from the States.
From the Club perspective, consider the Premiere League (Soccer League in England) that had 110 players representing 32 different Countries in the World Cup.
How many competitors turn back into teammates after the World Cup was over?
All the more reason not to bite your adversary.
Who is your biggest competitor? It doesn’t matter if we’re talking about a business or your backyard lawn darts nemesis.
Picture that rival in your mind…
Are you imagining their face on a giant spongey dartboard? Are you white knuckling a metal tip projectile, ready to let the feathers fly?
Perhaps you should rethink what your competition means to you.
None of us play professional soccer. Hopefully none of us have bitten anyone lately.
We do have competitors though, and in this era of connectivity there is a decent chance your paths will collide. Perhaps one day you will even play on the same team.
So what stops us from reaching out right now to our competition?
Relationships aren’t math equations so we can’t figure out the specific formula. However, the most likely scenario is that we are just following a long pattern of social norms, passed down through the generations.
I’m sure my tune would change if you dropped me into one of those Gladiator pits 2,000 years ago. There is no room for pleasantries when your head is on the line.
Luckily I live in the present. My competition is standing next to me at 1st base on sunny summer day. My competition is also trying to help other businesses in this great city. My competition is the other person working their way through the early adult years of life.
Building a bridge is easier than burning one that never existed.
Make that unusual connection and you might find a great person waiting on the other side.
Bridge Image : Flickr
