10 Laws of Life
Rule 7: Continuously Expand Cooperation
When people work together for a common goal,
they can achieve results that no other individual can achieve.
Collaboration with others offers the opportunity
to produce great results in life and the world.
However, some people mistakenly assume that,
if they collaborate with others,
people will underestimate them
or that it will devalue the individual’s contribution.
These people’s sense of status makes them put their own growth
above everything else,
thereby making it impossible to cooperate with others.
Constantly making efforts to make the cooperation in work
and life more and more sustainable,
will you find the motivation and timely support
to connect your individual talents
and opportunities with the collective?
Some people are born with high status in society
due to inheritance from grandparents and parents.
However, for most of us,
status comes from our contributions
and achievements.
There is nothing wrong with having status and being known.
But if your main goal is to achieve
and strengthen your status,
then you have distanced yourself from the key
to greater success and growth:
Collaboration with those around you.
Possibility of cooperation
Facilitating cooperation doesn’t mean you have to listen
to what others have to say
or respond to their requests.
Collaboration is the contribution of each individual to a common purpose,
allowing everyone to make their best contributions.
If an individual puts their own interests
or status above the common good of everyone,
it will be a great obstacle to cooperation.
There is nothing wrong with the act of strengthening an individual’s status,
it establishes one’s prestige before others;
but when it becomes a selfish habit
– always wanting to prevail
– it becomes an obstacle to destroy the spirit of cooperation.
At that time, the breakthrough in the general development process will be broken
Result oriented
The place where you can see many people trying to protect
and strengthen their position is on the political scene.
Politicians rely on their position in the eyes
of the people to get elected,
and they use their position in the eyes of middlemen
to get their jobs done.
That is why Ruth Samuelson is famous for her approach
to the Office of the Councilor of Mecklenburg County,
North Carolina.
Mrs. Ruth entered politics with the desire
to achieve success,
and she also realized that,
to be successful,
she had to reach out to many people,
especially those who often opposed her.
She started doing this
before announcing her race.
Ruth met with all the influential figures in the county at the time,
who were likely to oppose her,
to ask questions such as:
“According to you,
the people in Mecklenburg County are facing challenges.
What is the problem?”,
“What opportunities do you see for our community”
and “What would interest you
if I ran for the Councilor’s Office?”.
These questions made those who were meant to confront her feel
they had been seen through
and at the same time,
they realized that Ruth was on the same page
on important county issues at the moment.
In the end,
there was no one left against her.
Later, when faced with difficult problems,
Ruth Samuelson was still able to solve them
by focusing the cooperation of everyone,
no matter what party they belonged to
or different interests,
because she always knew how to listen
and appreciate contributions of the group.
She was the one who was willing to say, ”
Okay, what do you need in this matter,
and how should I respond,
how can we get a better goal instead of fighting over it?” ?.
She understands that cooperation must begin
with dialogue asking open and flexible questions,
being willing to listen,
respecting other people’s points of view,
understanding people’s real concerns
and doings their excitement
and the strengths they can contribute.
With this information,
she can find consensus that other politicians ignore.
The crossroads of cooperation
Those who achieve good-concern results
through increased cooperation are often viewed as a threat
by strengthening personal status.
Jonathan B. Smith has encountered such a case.
Like Ruth, his motivation comes from his accomplishments,
and he enjoys learning from what he’s doing.
Jonathan has been raising money for people
with leukemia and lymphoma in a charity program.
Rewards will be given to fundraisers
if they raise a certain amount.
Many people have advised him to send donation letters
and call potential businesses
or individuals.
However, he found this to be ineffective
because only one donation was received in every four letters sent out.
And an idea popped up in the mind of Jonathan,
who owns a company specializing in Internet marketing.
He immediately saw that,
if there was a website about fundraising perhaps much more convenient
and efficient:
one can send donations instantly with just one click.
Initially, this idea was carried out by him only for fun
and only for the purpose of winning a reward.
But when he saw that this method was still limited
by only calling for acquaintances,
he decided to invest in building a larger-scale marketing website to attract
as many visitors as possible.
It took effect immediately.
People started contributing money.
They contribute both questions and comments about the site
and what they want to find on the site.
Jonathan’s website happens to be a hub for people
who share a common interest in leukemia and lymphoma.
The website has also become a meeting place for benefactors
and it has a forum for people to talk.
Jonathan continues to build
and improve the forum section,
directly answering people’s questions about how to support,
donate,
or contribute in any way.
Through collaboration with like-minded people,
Jonathan has created an extremely effective means of online fundraising.
This caused some people in the main office of the Leukemia
and Lymphoma Society to suspect his motives.
They wanted to know why he spent his time
and money raising money for the Society,
and why he was allowed to create his own website
with the Society’s address on it.
And they especially fear the site will disrupt the traditional fundraising system,
which only takes place within the state.
Jonathan’s success is also a threat
to the status of salaried fundraisers.
They couldn’t believe someone
from no organization could raise 50,000 dollars in Michigan
from a philanthropist from Texas
– something they had never done.
The key issue in this case is that
the other philanthropist wants to donate the money on December 29th and,
at the same time,
doesn’t want the receipt to fall next year.
To do this, perhaps only Jonathan’s website can respond in a timely manner.
Equally speaking, for bureaucratic societies,
to some extent,
it is the heads of state who have contributed
to the impediment of cooperation,
as that is their way of protecting their position and status.
Harvest the results
After raising 300 thousand dollars for the Leukemia
and Lymphoma Society,
Jonathan was voted Man of the Year 2004
and received a commendation from the Association’s President
– an award that is only available to people
for scientists who have made great contributions to the Society.
Having a reputation is something to be proud of,
but it’s not important to Jonathan.
What interests him most is discovering the power
of the Internet in facilitating the cooperation
of people from all over the world.
It is often said,
you can do anything in this world,
as long as you don’t care who the reward goes to.
If you place your personal status in the sideline
of the gains achieved in the process of increased cooperation,
your continued growth will always be open.
Practice
Be honest with your motives
Why would you want to do these things?
For your own benefit or to create results that benefit others?
What motivates you more?
What does your behavior say?
Sometimes,
we’ll be surprised by the answers themselves.
If your ego or sense of status gets
in the way of producing the best results
for others,
remember,
this can stall you.
Instead of trumpeting,
competing for status,
or anything else that is personal,
it’s better to have a clear vision
and a cooperative attitude.
Respect the talents and contributions of others
These two things mean our gratitude to those
who have contributed to the common outcome for everyone.
No one wants to work with someone who wants to embrace the reward
– the fruit of a joint effort.
The more intimate the cooperation between problem-seekers
and problem-seekers,
the greater the chance of finding the best solution.
Effective solutions are always empowering
– at least enough to give us the opportunity to be more creative.