We are living in a highly competitive world. Competition, just like capitalism, is a part of human nature, and good for our progress. At the same time, just like any other part of human nature, it can turn destructive when not disciplined, and balanced.
Everybody realizes that to be successful in this highly competitive and globalized world, we absolutely need creativity. The question is what is the best way to create creativity. It is obvious that creativity doesn't come from ignorance or a vacuum. It requires a foundation from which new ideas can arise. The best way of acquiring the foundation is through very tough competition because tough and brutal competition pushes you to the limit.
Then, the question becomes whether competition is the best way to bring about creativity, also.
Here, we need to be precise with what we mean with creativity. In other words, what type of creativity. Creativity in the context of competition can be very narrow in the scope. In the world of sports, world-class competition brings new plays, better equipment and body conditioning, more thought-through strategy, and advanced psychological preparation. In the end, predicting the winner becomes an exercise and compilation of statistics. This analogy applies to most other of human activities. It is the proverbial "making a better mouse trap." It is making a better cell-phone or automobile, and etc., etc.
The other type of creativity is, in a way, also, making a better mouse trap. But this creativity comes in the context of communication, transportation, and etc. of our life. This creativity is not focused on the object at hand or how to make it better. This creativity is to find something fundamentally more efficient and unimagined before. What is a better way to communicate and not just how to make a better smart phone is the focus. What is the best way to move from point A to point B is the focus and not just focusing on the best selling model of an automobile. The emphasis is on how to achieve this kind of creativity in the globalized, brutal, and suffocating competition.
We must have competition, passion, focus, discipline, and energy to create something worthwhile. The question is how to nurture these qualities in the people around us and in ourselves so that the society as a whole can reach a better place.
