Competitors Can Be Friends Too

(J.M. – Indiana, USA) – I’ve been working on a project with someone who always has to have it their way. As a result, I had purposefully stopped giving my opinion, even though I knew my experience would provide valuable input. I must admit, I kind of wanted to see this person fail just to show him his ideas were not always right. This morning, I rolled The Company Cube and it said ‘Competitors Can Be Friends too!’ Great, now I had to change my attitude toward this person! Later today, I was sent a Powerpoint presentation for an upcoming meeting in which he would be speaking. Instead of giving ‘no comment’, I added several suggestions and changes to improve his talk. After seeing my recommendations, he came back and thanked me for taking the time to review it. It seems like a new spirit of cooperation is brewing! Sometimes, it takes just a little more effort to change the inertia in a relationship!

(Hidalgo, Mexico) – En mi segundo dia de cubo, me tocó el de COMPETIDORES, en el tipo de mercado que vivimos hoy, mis competidores son muy fuertes en algunos aspectos. Decidí que tenia que escribirles unas lineas a aquellos agentes de comercio que conozco de algunos de mis competidores, donde les comparti un poco de mi experiencia en el congreso de economia de comunion que asistí en Acatzingo.

Uno de ellos me contestó que era la primera vez que veia a un competidor directo de ellos, comentarles cosas para la mejora de las operaciones de venta! Fue una gran alegria cuando recibi ese email.

(J.M. – Indiana, USA) – Today I was in a meeting with one of our competitors. I had been invited to attend a meeting to try to support a common client. During the meeting, I was able to work with them towards a common goal. After the meeting, we shared a beer with the client. This side of The Company Cube can be true, if you just let it happen!

(J.M. – Indiana, USA) Last week, I rolled The Company Cube and it read: ‘Competitors Can Be Friends Too!’ It just so happened that I was testifying that day in a court of law as an expert witness, and the attorney on the opposing side who was going to cross examine my testimony was a very difficult person to like. Over the last several years, he had been exceptionally confrontational on a particular situation, taking every opportunity to make it difficult to like him – personal assaults on character, misrepresenting data, filing claims that had not basis in fact, etc.

So, how do you think ‘Competitors Can Be Friends Too!’ ? All that I could think of was simply – Tell the truth no matter what or how the question is asked, and don’t get upset with his methods. In the end, the cross examination went well, and my portion ended without any incident or confrontation on the witness stand. I realized when it was over that I had given exceptionally good answers to his questions, which were difficult, and that he had made me be a better witness because of his intense scrutiny. So, thank you ‘competitor’ for making me a better professional!