Lean Enterprise Institute Logo
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletter Signup
  • Cart (76)
  • Account
  • Search
Lean Enterprise Institute Logo
  • Explore Lean
        • What is Lean?
        • The Lean Transformation Framework
        • A Brief History of Lean
        • Lexicon Terms
        • Topics to explore
          • Operations
          • Lean Product & Process Development
          • Administration & Support
          • Problem-Solving
          • Coaching
          • Executive Leadership
          • Line Management
  • The Lean Post
        • Subscribe to see exclusive content
          • Subscribe
        • Featured posts
          A Reflection on Competition

          Lean Product and Process Development at Scale:...

          craftsmanship

          Pursuing Perfection: Craftsmanship in Product Development

          • See all Posts
  • Events & Courses
        • Forms and Templates
        • Featured learning
          • The Future of People at Work Symposium 

            July 18, 2024 | Detroit, Michigan

          • Hoshin Kanri

            September 06, 2024 | Coach-Led Online Course

          • Lean Warehousing and Distribution Operations

            September 11, 2024 | Plant City, Florida and Gainesville, Florida

          • Key Concepts of Lean Management

            September 16, 2024 | Coach-Led Online Course

          • See all Events
  • Training & Consulting for Organizations​
        • Interested in exploring a partnership with us?
          • Schedule a Call
        • Getting Started
        • Leadership Development
        • Custom Training
        • Enterprise Transformation​
  • Store
        • Book Ordering Information
        • Shopping Cart
        • Featured books
          Managing to Learn: Using the A3 management process

          Managing to Learn: Using the A3 management process

          A3 Getting Started Guide 2

          A3 Getting Started Guide

          • See all Books
  • About Us
        • Our people
          • Senior Advisors and Staff
          • Faculty
          • Board of Directors
        • Contact Us
        • Lean Global Network
        • Press Releases
        • In the News
        • Careers
        • About us

The Lean Post / Articles / A Reflection on Competition

A Reflection on Competition

Executive Leadership

A Reflection on Competition

By Lynn Kelley

February 22, 2018

A meta-analysis of research shows that among the three main ways of achieving business goals, collaboration beats competition and individualism a little more than 50% of the time. Lynn Kelley, PhD, and a continuous improvement VP, discusses the research on achieving goals and personal career reflections about intense competition with co-workers.

FacebookTweetLinkedInPrintComment

Business competition is brutal, snowflake. So, if you want to win that raise, promotion, or just keep your crummy job, make sure rivals are covered by tire marks from being under that proverbial bus — courtesy of you.

But there’s an alternative to that intense mode of competition that’s healthier for us as people and more effective for our companies, says Lynn Kelley, PhD, senior vice president-supply chain and continuous improvement, Union Pacific Railroad.

“Companies whose primary motivation is to beat the competition do worse in the marketplace than companies whose primary motivation is to deliver value,” says Kelley, citing research.

Join Lynn now to hear her concise, informative, and entertaining Lean Talk about competition versus collaboration, based on research from business, sports, and a personal experiment from her own career.

Timeline:

  • 00:58 – Beset by intense competitors; backstabbing and rumors
  • 1:24 – Could I be the root cause?
  • 2:12 – An experiment in collaboration, praise, sharing notes, etc.
  • 3:45 – What the research says about competition in business and sports
  • 5:46 – The 3 unique ways of achieving any goal
  • 7:30 – Negative effects of competition on people
  • 8:52 – W. Edwards Deming versus Vince Lombardi

Are you interested in learning more from Lynn and other leading lean practitioners? Save your seat now for Lean Talks, Monday evening, March 26, and register for the 2018 Lean Transformation Summit.

FacebookTweetLinkedInPrintComment

Written by:

Lynn Kelley

About Lynn Kelley

Following a career highlighted by leadership roles in engineering, supply chain, continuous improvement, and quality in various industries, including healthcare, academia, and manufacturing, Kelley retired from Union Pacific Railroad in 2018. Now serving as a senior advisor to BBH Capital Partners, she assists in sourcing, investment evaluation, transaction execution, and…

Read more about Lynn Kelley

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related

image showing ownership and responsibility at an organization

Executive Leadership

What Matters When Giving — or Accepting — the Gift of Lean Thinking and Practice

Article by Josh Howell

Podcast graphic image with repeating icons and microphones

Executive Leadership

The History of the Term “Lean”: a Conversation with Jim Womack and John Krafcik

Podcast by James (Jim) Womack, PhD and John Krafcik

various healthcare professionals using AI

Executive Leadership

AI’s Impact on Healthcare: A Conversation with Dr. Jackie Gerhart and Dr. Christopher Longhurst

Podcast by Jackie Gerhart, MD, Christopher Longhurst, MD and Matthew Savas

Related books

The Gold Mine (Audio CD)

The Gold Mine (Audio CD)

by Freddy Ballé and Michael Ballé

The Gold Mine Trilogy 4 Book Set

The Gold Mine Trilogy 4 Book Set

by Freddy Ballé and Michael Ballé

Related events

September 06, 2024 | Coach-Led Online Course

Hoshin Kanri

Learn more

September 24, 2024 | Coach-Led Online Course

Management Systems

Learn more

Explore topics

Executive Leadership graphic icon Executive Leadership

Stay up to date with the latest events, subscribe today.

Subscribe
  • Privacy Policy
  • Sitemap
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • Facebook

©Copyright 2000-2024 Lean Enterprise Institute, Inc. All rights reserved.
Lean Enterprise Institute, the leaper image, and stick figure are registered trademarks of Lean Enterprise Institute, Inc.

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Learn More. ACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT