Cooperation
Cooperation seems simple: working together toward a common goal
for the benefit of all involved. But amazingly it can be quite challenging, even
when we have so many successful examples all around us. Human society is based
upon the concept of cooperation, but finding a balance to ensure the good of all
members of society is difficult. In nature, symbiotic relationships form between
unlikely allies: a bee and a flower, a bird and a rhinoceros, small fish and
sharks. Yet nature also shows us instances of constant competition in which only
the strongest survive. Given the choice, it seems most people would choose the
more peaceful path of cooperation. Intellectually, we know that together we can
create something greater than what one could do alone, but cooperation still
seems to be one of the greatest challenges people face. We don’t always agree on
how goals can be reached. Our priorities may be different, or our methods, but
in the end, cooperation offers the best chance for success.
So how can
we learn to cooperate with each other? We can gain greater perspective by trying
to understand one another’s point of view, perhaps even putting ourselves in
their place. We can search for commonalities as well as differences, and look
for the good in different approaches. There is always more than one way of doing
things, and some approaches are better suited for certain situations than
others. All this is easier when we let go of the necessity to be right and to
call others wrong. More important, we must believe that there is a solution that
benefits all involved, not just one side.
The results of cooperation can
be as simple as effortlessly getting everyone in your household to their
appointments to large-scale social shifts to changing minds and hearts or
policies that affect the future.
DailyOM
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