
Only Idiots Compete in Earnest Against Their Peers - succinct_ideas
https://dissention.wordpress.com/2014/04/18/only-idiots-compete-in-earnest-against-their-peers/
======
epalmer
>White-collar types see their peers as life-long adversaries who do not belong
in the same boat they are in. Some also believe that they “really” belong to a
much more exclusive boat and were just plain unlucky to land in their one they
are in.

>Almost every white-collar type sees his peers as his or her biggest enemy.
His (or hers) biggest ambition in life is to somehow triumph over them and
move to a “better” place.

While I don't doubt this occurs there are plenty white-collar employees that
don't look at it this way and don't operate this way. The author has a very
cynical view of white-collar employees. Makes me wonder if this is just an
attempt to stir up some emotions in the readers of their blog piece.

Since graduating decades ago I have been a white collar employee and employer
at times. Today I manage a few people, do work with them (we manage 130+ web
sites and code backend and front end) and lead a cross department team. We
don't express any of these tendencies. In fact if we did we would not be
considered a high performing team and we are considered by others to be just
that. We work with people on other teams that seem to be the same as us in
terms of desire to get the job done right and in a way that is collaborative
and at times fun. Maybe I would believe this more whole-heartedly if the
author referred to senior executive white-collar employees. I see and have
seen the tendencies the author speaks to more at the Vice President and Senior
Vice President level than at the middle manager level.

------
Sam--------
In a world with scarce resources, everybody competes. It is just who you
compete with... Author attempts to say that the union is one group against
management, while non-union compete against each other.

Another view is that white collar employees do there best for their employer--
thus competing against the employers' competitors. The incentive for doing so
is that a rising tide often raises all boats... (See e.g.
[http://www.wsj.com/articles/behind-rising-inequality-more-
un...](http://www.wsj.com/articles/behind-rising-inequality-more-unequal-
companies-1446665769)) This would lead you tho the conclusion that only an
idiot competes within their own company.

Alas, as always, the truth is somewhere between the two extreme viewpoints.

------
powera
Article is (2014).

Also there's a massive difference between a person who "compete"s with their
peers and a person who "sees his peers as his or her biggest enemy".

~~~
succinct_ideas
Agreed.

The author makes a good point, and the proceeds to take the argument way too
far.

