Coopetition For Coaches Webcast

The 1st Quarter 2011 Strategy For Coaches webcast will be on Coopetition: The Synthesis Of Competition And Cooperation. The webcast is scheduled for:

· Saturday, March 5th, 2011 at 12:00 AM, 1:00 PM and 6:00 PM
· Monday, March 7th, 2011 at 12:00 AM, 1:00 PM and 6:00 PM

The webcast is 1.5 hours in length. (GMT = Greenwich Mean Time)

A very condensed preview of the webcast is available on our YouTube channel:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Te7j2_2Bu_Q

Summary:

Traditional business strategy is organized around competition––win/lose models fueled by market share frameworks. Western culture encourages and sometimes requires competition in order to succeed, so we rarely question whether there are alternatives to competing with others.

A careful examination of nature shows both competitive and cooperative behavior. It is quite common for organisms to not only compete but also cooperate with one another, often times simultaneously. Members of a species may hunt in packs (cooperation) while also fighting for alpha status within the pack (competition). Particular behaviors exist on a continuum of pure competition on one end and pure cooperation on the other.

Ray Noorda, founder of the networking software company Novell, noticed a similar phenomenon in the business world. He coined the term coopetition to represent this. Coopetition, a synthesis of the words competition and cooperation, was designed to convey the dynamic relationship between the two concepts. Business often involves cooperation to create the market (the pie) and competition to divide up the market (one’s slice).

Games-as-business metaphor is common. A game is simply a situation in which players engage in an artificial conflict, defined by rules, that results in a quantifiable outcomes. Game theory is the study of rational behavior in contested environments and offers scientific principles that can be used to predict the actions of others. Real-life situations are often extremely complicated and game theory only provides a model of that complexity. Despite its limitations, game theory has proven extraordinary useful in providing information for developing strategy. The biggest opportunities and the biggest profits have consistently come not to those who play the game best, but to those who play the right game. Changing the game can be accomplished by changing any of the key elements that comprise the game. Game theory coupled with the concept of coopetition has resulted in new possibilities for profit by changing the game being played and is worth a careful look.

Most coaching businesses today are still comprised of solo practitioners, although the trend for group practices is gaining ground. Solo practitioners are at a particular disadvantage due to the significant number of non-billable hours required to run any coaching firm. A smart business strategy that leverages coopetition could be just the prescription for success. This webcast will begin with a thorough introduction to coopetition and game theory, discuss numerous real world examples and finish with ideas for profitably applying the knowledge to the coaching business.