Competition vs Cooperation in Daily Life

When people discuss how to achieve excellence, they often compare the merits of competition and cooperation. This essay will examine both views before presenting my own position. One Suggested change: commonly heldcommonly held1commonly-held view is that competition is the best way to excel because, by encouraging people to aim to be better than everyone else, outcomes will be improved. For example, competition in sales departments may lead to sales representatives being more effective, while in schools, pushing students to reach the top of the class in examinations may stimulate them to study harder. However, an alternative view is that cooperation is preferable to competition because it leads to people sharing ideas and Suggested change: collaborating toward mutual objectivescollaborating toward mutual objectives2working together for the common good. An example of this in daily life might be local residents working together to improve their community, perhaps by clearing litter or volunteering to help people in need. In business, collaboration can often lead to innovation and more effective problem solving because of the different skills and perspectives held by the group. I generally agree that in most contexts, cooperation leads to better outcomes and a greater sense of Suggested change: well-beingwell-being3wellbeing. Moreover, competition can actually demotivate those who are not near the top. For instance, weaker or average students may resign themselves to mediocrity if they lose all hope of competing for the top places in a class, and the same applies to people in the workplace. Suggested change: Therefore, for many people,Therefore, for many people,4So for many people, Suggested change: competition is often counterproductivecompetition is often counterproductive5competition is not better, although it may be effective in certain situations, especially when outcomes can be quantified, such as with sales results. In addition, when people compete with themselves by making small, incremental improvements, this can be a powerful way to build skills and habits. In conclusion, while some people feel that competition is better because it encourages people to succeed, others believe that because cooperation Suggested change: promotes collaborationpromotes collaboration6stimulates working together, it leads to better overall outcomes. I generally agree with this second Suggested change: view, albeit with certain caveats.view, albeit with certain caveats.7view but with certain caveats.