Sunday, October 21, 2007

Invisible (non?)competition

A post from Marginal excerpting from a print periodical regarding how face-to-face competitors may have some difficulty in the more at-a-distance (how has this changed?) economy:

The greatest gains in this new world are likely to go to people who are methodical planners or who love the game for its own sake. Some people plot their competitive strategies far in advance. These planners—be they crazy or just highly productive—don’t need anyone breathing down their necks, and indeed they often work best alone or in very small groups. Bill Gates is a classic example. Planners’ behavior may manifest itself in very competitive forms, but their underlying psychology is often not very rivalrous at all. They are ordering their own realities, usually for their individual psychological reasons, rather than acting out of a desire to trounce the competition. Early risers will also be favored. These people enjoy being first in line, or first to use a new idea, for its own sake.
Bill Gates is actually reported to be quite competitive, even with the boardgame Monopoly.

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