The age of competition is largely over

There was a time when it was: they or we. Their console or our console. Their shoes or our shoes. Their brand or our brand. His career or your career. But that time is over: Consumption has changed, desires for services have changed and careers have changed massively.

In short, the disclaimer if you are looking for exceptions: There are plenty. Of course, the change does not apply to all sectors – after no car or one or two, most are over. I only have one fridge.

But jeans? game consoles? massages? Even when it comes to sports venues, the trend is towards more choice. Streaming portals, sports tights, skin care products, news subscriptions, light jackets. In addition to the “we or they” product worlds, there are also those in which consumption leads to consumption. This is also due to the advertising: Did you like the book? Here are three more you might love. The department is doing a good job? Let’s stock up. And these areas are becoming increasingly relevant.

Consumption today is more about pleasure and less about meeting basic needs and then paying off the mortgage. Disposable incomes are higher today. Inflation may have eaten up a fair bit, but it won’t reverse the trend in the long run: Consumer spending increases. People buy what they like. And if they like something, they buy more of it.

This new consumer culture has added something to the economy: industries in which saturation occurs much later. So competition becomes less relevant.

We have been observing a related trend in teams for a long time. Competition is of course a career factor. But if you forget to cooperate, you will no longer have a career in many companies because you have proven to be incapable of leadership.

And that should actually change the values ​​with which people start their (working) life. Surprisingly, exactly the opposite occurs: even the youngest compete fiercely for future opportunities. There is something wrong.

When it comes to elementary school, I’m not worried about my little daughter – the problem lies with us parents alone. But by the fifth grade at the latest, she will have to compete fiercely for a place in a secondary school. Then she will fight for an apprenticeship or university place. Then maybe a master’s degree or a traineeship.

What exactly are the children learning? Make a mistake, let yourself go and bang – you’re out. If you’re not good enough, then you lose a piece of freedom: you can no longer choose what you do later. so fight We grind ten-year-olds’ elbows like they actually have a use for them.

It’s just not like that. There is a wonderful zone of willingness to perform, joy in work and a desire for success, which does very well without drill. Excellent results are achieved in this zone with cohesion and a sense of security, because all the friction losses of the competition are eliminated.

The competition has been proven by studies for years. The nice counter-trend is that young employees distance themselves from this and demand more freedom in professional life – and want to create a better atmosphere.

Luckily, karma and demographics have long since struck back: After twenty years of drilling young people through a competitive system, it’s the companies that have to compete for them. And then the older ones complain that the younger ones just want to relax? The younger ones didn’t create the system. They just fought their way through something that has very little to do with today’s working world.