Competition - is it always positive (husnu zan)?

Today, I had the chance of attending and participating a breakthrough discussion with a competitor company. Actually I was the mastermind behind the arrangement, but let's just say I helped to arrange for the meeting (if I were to say that I lead, then I have to continue working on the particular assignment which I'm trying to avoid very much for this financial year 2008-09). Hence, "I helped to arrange for a meeting with a competitor company". We are trying to get them to join forces with us in order to fight the raging price increase imposed by our suppliers for this particular equipment - cranes. Enough to say, high demand but low supply. Just like the infamous Black Gold - oil and White Gold - rice.

What you should do when there is so much demand but limited supply in the market? For a company (as written in text books and as hound by management consultants), is you should try to create ally with your competitors in order to increase your bargaining power. Therefore when you negotiate with the enemy, you can have better strength. Like 2 vs. 1, is much better than 1 vs. 1. We never tried to create ally with our competitors before, so before we went over their office, we had so much negative thoughts about the outcome. Plan B everyone, Plan B must come in handy. Hence, we strategized much like Sun Tzu's teaching. The "kulikutif" like yours truly and the likes were first to be sent to rage the war. Should the martyrs be killed in the talk, then the General will join force to fight the war later. General vs. General.

The day came and I was very excited to create this "hari ini dalam sejarah". We were so anxious, up to having a last minute strategizing talk at their front gate, before entering the competitor's compound. We went in, greeted by 3 of their men and to cut things short, we got what we want much to our surprise. Mission accomplished. Phewww...no need for General. Now it's time for a reflection.

For a company/business:
Competition - if in capitalist terms, is required and mandatory for the economy to stay healthy and for consumers to be happy.
Competitors - people that we should appreciate or hate? Appreciate because they keep you in check but hate when they can drive you crazy or out of business.

For an individual - work:
Competition - required in order to stay fit and focused in achieving target, strive for continuous improvement, to stay relevant.
Competitors - unavoidable. How many executives have to fight for that one manager post in a department? A lot. How many MD/CEO a company can have. One. Satu. Uno. Siji. Ik. And how many aspire to be the no. 1 in the company? Hell lot.

For a married woman:
Competition - arises when suddenly you feel that your partner wants to create a competition for you e.g. "I ni masih smart tau, ramai orang minat kat I. You jgn take me for granted pulak". This is when you start to switch on the panic button and start to check yourself out. Am I too fat? Too thin? Has my skin darkened? Too lightened? Has my violin-shaped body turned into an apple? Watermelon? Have I not treated him well? Have I cooked not up to his standard? Is the house not clean enough? etc etc etc.
Competitors - majority those younger than you, but sometimes can be of same league with you, worst - older than you. With a ratio of 50 women to 1 man, MAN, this is hell lot of a competition.

So my advise, try as best to stay relevant. Beyond that, is qadhak dan qadar dari Allah. Setiap yang berlaku, ada hikmahnya. So I have to say, that competition is good for us to stay in shape all the time.