153. Competition or collaboration. What is the XXI century answer?

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Most people’s understanding of business is that it operates as a highly competitive environment, where you keep your cards close to your chest, do not share any secrets and negotiate as hard as you can to win. This may have been true in the last century, but in many cases it no longer holds, most likely because of the arrival of the internet. The technological innovation challenges which hold the keys to the next great sellers, the next blockbusters, are huge (think climate change solutions, atmosphere cleaning, recovery of lost species, curing cancer,…). The internet has made collaboration easy, and it is by far the most effective way to reach these goals as soon as possible. Making your competitors your collaborators reduces risk, as you will take a part of the prize, sharing with them, rather than risking the all or nothing of competition. Thus, traditional businesses with no potential for innovation may be highly competitive but, in technology, the name of the game is collaboration 

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Location: Hereford, UK

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