Collaboration Wins Over Competition

The answers to all the world's problems have probably been in front of us all along, we just keep missing them and misinterpreting them. Perhaps collaboration would help us to gain a better understanding of what is needed to solve the myriad of problems we face on all levels. Imagine a world where we learn from each other to reach the next level, instead of competing against each other to see who reaches the best answer first. Imagine the progress the world would make by groups working together, seeing multiple sides to a situation, brainstorming and coming up with collective agreements, and then implementing these as solutions.
All the tools to use are in front of us. The internet has opened up a whole new world for all of us, the information age. Knowledge management combined with transparency provides the possibility for collaboration to be one of the next Black Swan events, if we all tap into this concept ethically and without greed. That's the framework, multiple possibilities the outcome.

Think of the effort it takes to win a race from the back each time. Isn't this what happens in the world today each time a new organisation forms to try to compete with ones in place already? Imagine a world where there's main relay races and each new runner springboards off previous existing bases? Use our collective wisdom! I have put together a simple illustration showing this below.

Here's an example of silos of competition, each running individual races:

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Versus this example of collaborative relays using the collective base created by all: 
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I've seen existing organisations change the rules and throw away what's gone before each time an internal organisation structure change is announced. Imagine instead a process of change where agreed, documented ethics and principles remain steadfast. I was taught a good example of this at a training course I attended where we were told about the United States Constitution, created through a collaborative 4 month process, which has stood since 1787. The constitution stands even when government changes; separate from any religion. The power of historical agreement, ethics, a framework and governance.

The Information Technology OpenSource base is a great example of transparent collaboration, each part of the programming puzzle benefiting from what's gone before by continual testing and input and general peer review, and the content is available for reuse by all. This collective knowledge becomes group wisdom and information, like a shared group identity. I suggest we take this principle and adapt it and implement it for wider use in the world today. One possibility could be a communication platform where ideas are brainstormed and massaged, similar to how Wikipedia works. Many different types of people will be needed when discussing these ideas, as someone with the least knowledge of something often sees a totally different viewpoint. Collaborative group brainstorming sessions have the potential to turn mediocre fledgling ideas into soaring new paradigms. 

In the words of Abraham Lincoln, "a house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently, half slave and half free." Let's all try to work together, all add to the big puzzle that is the world, and complete the missing pieces, and unite as one people, one world, with one vision.