Survival of the Fittest? Competition vs. Cooperation

Survival of the Fittest? Competition vs. Cooperation?  Our culture has the propensity to value competition over all else. Often rooted in the Darwin alleged theory of survival of the fittest.  I’m not sure how Darwin’s theory morphed into the manner of how we often flippantly interpret it. I am however sure that interpretation is off base when it comes to the workplace. Cooperation and adaptability is what Darwin was focused on.

Darwin himself only mentioned survival of the fittest twice.  In contrast he mentioned the concept of love/cooperation/adaptability (call it what you want) ninety-five times.  He was correct.  Cooperation will win every time when you look at the big picture. And in the workplace  it will create a more productivity, higher return on ongoing efforts and perhaps even re-engage the over 70% of employees out there that are actively disengaged in their jobs.  That is a lot of unproductive dollars going to wages for unproductive work.

Creating a culture of cooperation increases your culture of adaptability and will result in increased ROI, increased employee retention, higher productivity, etc.  It will maximize both time and results.