Crushing the Domination
25 July, 2022
I find a lot of the language used in business and personal development to more than a little disturbing. You’re told that you need to dominate your niche. You need to crush your competition or whatever you’re trying to do.
That kind of rhetoric treats everyone as an adversary and everything you do as an almost violent competition. It’s not a healthy way to work or live. You’re always looking over your shoulder, always worried or fearful of what your competitors will do. You’re on tenterhooks expecting others to catch up to or overtake you.
And what happens if you don’t dominate or crush everything? Have you failed? No.
You don’t have to treat everyone as an enemy you need to vanquish. They could be allies or colleagues or collaborators instead. Rather than trying to be a juggernaut, be yourself.
Until around 2013 or 2014, I blogged regularly about technical communication. And I was considered influential within that niche. I knew several other technical communication bloggers, and I didn’t try to dominate that niche or crush those other bloggers. Instead, I worked with them. I got to know them, persuaded them to write guest posts for me, to do podcasts promoting each other and own own work. I even encouraged technical communication bloggers who were just starting out.
That goes against the prevailing wisdom (if you want to call it wisdom). The approach I took, though, makes for a stronger ecosystem. It’s better for everyone all around.