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One of the most pervasive rules of business is compete-to-win or perish. But as more organizations struggle to navigate an increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous landscape, some innovative leaders are choosing to collaborate over compete. This is particularly necessary within the organization, where collaboration may be considered beneficial in theory, but in practice, the rules of engagement still revolve around competition: colleagues become rivals over promotion opportunities, recognition, and advancement. The competition within the organization makes it harder to navigate the disruption and certainty on the outside. How do leaders banish in-house competition? They create and model a culture that uncompetes. To uncompete is to intentionally choose to reject competition and actively design for collaboration. Heres how. Harness two types of envy Team collaboration increases when we feel psychological safetylike our team has our back. Competition and envy among colleagues can reduce psychological safety and create a hostile environment if not managed well by leaders. Managing envy to motivate teamsnot sabotage each otheris a skill. Organizational psychologists broadly characterize envy as falling under two categories: benign and malicious envy. Benign envy motivates us to work harder toward a goal when we see someone else achieving it, malicious envy can be destructive and often results in us wanting to sabotage or undermine a colleagues success. A powerful way to cultivate benign envy is to focus on the hard work a team member did to achieve a goal, rather than just focus on the achievement itself. Leaders can harness benign envy to create a culture of motivation and collaboration by highlighting the effort it took over outcomes, particularly team-based efforts. Implement rewards for collaboration Many workplace cultures are individualistic, where only individual wins are celebrated. This makes it more attractive for employees to prioritize gaining individual success over collaborative ones. Instead, leaders must implement recognition and reward systems that emphasize collaboration and teamwork. Leaders can verbally name collaboration as an organizational value. Collaboration must also be defined explicitly as a metric for rewarding career development, advancement, and recognition. For promotion and other career development conversations, list “examples of collaboration” as one of the metrics being considered. In addition, group incentive programs are another way to operationalize collaboration, when rewards are pegged to team performance and meted out among the group rather than just individually. Incentivized teams increased their performance by 45%, compared to a 27% increase for individual incentives, according to a study by the International Society for Performance Improvement. Organizations that implement a peer-to-peer recognition program also benefit from creating a culture of shared success. Set reasonable work boundaries In the race to beat competitors, more organizations are normalizing always on work cultures. Silicon Valley, in particular, is popularizing a 996 work expectation of working 12-hour shifts six days a week in the race to innovate on AI. When leaders model that workers must be always-on, it creates and exacerbates a scarcity mindsetthat theres never enough time or resources in a day to complete tasks, so we have to keep working more. It also often fosters the belief that employees must compete against their colleagues to demonstrate dedication and competence. When leaders model reasonable work hours and expectations, the message gets communicated that employees dont have to hustle for rewards. This looks like visibly and vocally taking time off, working reasonable hours, and not penalizing employees when they dont respond immediately. Hustle culture often leads to burnout, another side effect of competitive environments. By comparison, in collaborative work cultures, employees feel supported to work reasonable hours without fear. Consider job-sharing and other collaboration models Nobel prize-winning economist Claudia Goldin discovered a surprising way to reduce the gender wage gapjob-sharing. A lack of flexibility (also a challenge in always-on cultures) impacts womens earning potential. But when theyre able to work part-time and trade off their shiftsparticulary common for pharmaciststhe wage gap almost disappears. What if more leaders could explore some roles at the organization being set up for job-sharingsuch as two colleagues who work closely together and could substitute for each other easily when the other is out? This can help foster team ownership and collaboration versus individual priorities. One company, Jotform, moved to create small, cross-functional teams when their leaders noticed the company was growing but output wasnt. These cross-functional teams of 35 people each would focus on a single product instead of bouncing between priorities. Each group was paired with its own designer and given ownership. Almost overnight, the quality of our work improved. The teams moved faster, communicated better, and felt more motivated. Since then, cross-functional teams have become a core part of our cultureand one of our biggest competitive advantages, writes CEO Aytekin Tank, reflecting on the past decade since the company moved to this model. Of course, establishing a number of collaboration norms, particularly around communication, was key to making it a success. Co-leadership models A compelling case for co-leadership, particularly organization co-CEOs, is emerging. One study of 87 public companies led by co-CEOS between 1996 and 2020 found they had better shareholder returns (9.5%) compared with similar companies who only didnt. Co-CEOs are not common nor without controversy, but done right, theres evidence that collaboration at the highest levels can truly drive innovation. Take Netflix, where Ted Sarandos and Reed Hastings were able to leverage complementary skills to grow the company. Management professor Michael D. Watkins lays out seven norms of how a successful co-CEO partnership could operate, including designing clear conflict-resolution mechanisms, creating a leadership charter, and dividing responsibilities by expertise, not convenience. This is even more necessary as AI continues to disrupt many industries. A nonprofit organization I was involved with in the past, Upaya Social Ventures, also transitioned to a co-CEO model last year. Collaborating with their complementary skills has been necssary to serve the organizations mission of creating dignified jobs for people living in some of the poorest regions of India. Left to chance, many organizations default to competitive norms, where collaboration is often stalled because of internal rivalries. Thats why its necessary to uncompetefor leaders to intentionally prioritize and design norms that make collaboration supported, rewarded, and institutionalized. Only then can we reduce inter-organization competition and move towards true collaboration.
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E-Commerce
If my three-decade journey in the corporate world has taught me anything, its that in business, as in life, the only certainty is uncertainty. In the past 20 years, periods of upheaval, from pandemics to financial crises to AI hysteria, have restitched the fabric of how we work, travel, and communicate. While this uncertainty can generate tension and turmoil, it also forges the best leaders. Ive seen bosses and colleagues navigate all types of volatility, where the margin between success and failure can come down to a single action or inaction. So, what distinguishes leaders who can successfully shepherd teams through uncertain times from those who cant? I believe those who can share these three distinct characteristics. DOUBLE DOWN DURING DOWN TIMES Theres a tendency for companies to become ultra-cautious in times of uncertainty. While this may seem prudent, its difficult to get ahead of whats coming with your head down. The best leaders look ahead and make smart investments even when markets are down and sentiment is grim. In the wake of 9/11, I was at GE Aviation (now GE Aerospace). Overnight, the airline industry was grounded. While other manufacturers hunkered down and leaned on existing IP and products, we increased our budget on new jet engine development. Counterintuitive? Perhaps. But we were confident in one thing: People would fly again. Typically, a new engine has a combined new product introduction cycle and payback period of 15 to 20 years. With such an extended runway for ROI, manufacturers that dont make a bet to capture market share often struggle to get back into the game. Eventually, airline demand resumed, as did the need for next-gen engines, and we were one of the only companies that could deliver. ABSORB THE FEAR In Stephen Kings The Green Mile, prisoner John Coffey has a remarkable gift: He absorbs the sickness and pain of others, assuming their burdens at significant personal cost. Sci-fi? Yes, but it symbolizes a skill every leader needs. During times of change and anxiety, leaders must absorb the emotionalburdens of their employees, their fear and insecurity, and then project a path forward. The best leaders Ive seen take on their stakeholders doubt and replace it with a clear-eyed vision of the opportunity that exists amid the chaos. Listen, digest the concerns, and replace apprehension with hope. The pandemic was a period of intense uncertainty for companies, and Twilio was no exception. It was also the catalyst for equally intense growth, as circumstances and shifts in consumer behavior accelerated digital transformation. Nearly every organization needed a way to engage its customers digitally, and we were there to help build it. But by early 2024, when I became CEO, we had a lingering post-pandemic hangover. We simply werent winning as fast or frequently, and without credible points on the board, I could sense increased anxiety across our employee base. Hope is the currency that reenergizes teams and reassures external stakeholders, but empty hope is useless without a concrete path forward. I made it my mission to deliver that. For us, hope meant aligning on a clear, measurable vision for continued growth and a roadmap that everyone could get behind. This served as a compass, allowing our 5,500 employees to rebuild momentum and get us to the other side. CUT SUGARCOATING FROM YOUR CORPORATE DIET Theres an inclination for leaders to protect their people during periods of uncertainty. Withholding information, changing the message for each audience, or filtering it through rose-colored glasses insulates your stakeholders from the reality of what needs to occur. Fight those urges. Be transparent, while adjusting the altitude of information nuances required for each audience. In my first year as Twilio CEO, I was on the road meeting with stakeholders roughly 70% of the time. I sat down with customers, employees, investors, and board members to listen and communicate the companys path forward. My goal was to candidly talk about where we were as a company and where we were headed, so that everyone with skin in the game had the same playbook. Without candor and a consistent message, stakeholders cant grasp the full picture and the steps needed to fix it. You cant obfuscate the truth or change your tune depending on who youre talking to. You have a board, shareholders, hundreds or thousands of employees, and customers relying on your transparency. Whether its at a monthly town hall, an industry roundtable, or deskside conversations with investors, open and consistent communication simplifies your job as a leader. Thats the real gift of transparency: There are no skeletons to remember to hide or stories to change. Most critically, it reinforces trust, which puts points on the board. THE UNCERTAINTY IS TEMPORARY Theres no telling how any leader will respond to periods of uncertainty or hardship until theyre faced with them. No matter how impassable the road looks, the upside of uncertainty is knowing this too shall pass. After 9/11, we flew again. After the pandemic, we gathered again. And even as AI reshapes our work fundamentally, well continue to have meaningful careers. These periods of uncertainty are temporary, but when you string them together, they make up the long-term success or failure of your company. So, when the future isnt fully written, our job as leaders is to make smart investments, absorb the fear, turn it into clarity, and build trust. Do that, and in my experience, there are always better days ahead. Khozema Shipchandler is the CEO of Twilio.
Category:
E-Commerce
The narrative is familiar: Revolutionary technology arrives, promising to liberate women from domestic drudgery and professional constraints. The electric oven would free housewives from coal-burning stoves. The washing machine would eliminate laundry day. The microwave would make meal preparation effortless. Yet as historian Ruth Schwartz Cowan argued in her landmark book, More Work for Mother, these innovations didnt reduce womens workload. They simply shifted expectations, creating new standards of cleanliness and convenience that often meant more work, not less. So when we speak of AI as the solution to professional and personal burdens, skepticism is warranted. After all, technology has repeatedly promised liberation while delivering new forms of constraint. The question isnt whether AI will change professional and personal work; its whether this change will finally favor womens autonomy rather than merely reorganizing their obligations. Recent data Duckbill collected alongside Harris Poll reveals that 47% of women avoid asking for help to prevent burdening others. This hesitation reflects not just conditioning around self-sacrifice, but hard-won wisdom about technological promises that rarely materialize as advertised. SELF-LIMITATION ISNT ALL ON US The reluctance to seek assistance isnt a character flaw; its a rational behavior within systems that have historically penalized women for taking up space. When 31% of women aged 18-34 procrastinate on booking their own medical appointments, and 76% report that even in their free time it feels like there is something they should be doing, were witnessing the manifestation of decades of messaging that female needs are inherently secondary. This isnt about women doing it wrong. Its about women making calculated decisions within structures that werent designed for their success. AI PROVIDES AN ALGORITHMIC ADVANTAGE What makes AI uniquely positioned to address this dynamic is its fundamental departure from human-built social contracts. Theres no emotional labor required, no reciprocal obligation, no concern about imposing on someones bandwidth. Theres no judgment. The technology can exist to purely augment human capability, making it perhaps the first truly guilt-free form of assistance available at scale. Consider the surgeon who uses AI to optimize her schedule, allowing her to focus on life-saving procedures, rather than administrative minutiae. What if that surgeon also used AI to handle her insurance claim after a kitchen flood, researching coverage details, coordinating with adjusters, and handling repairs? Or the venture capitalist who has AI analyze market trends and simultaneously asks for it to research the best schools for her daughter, approaching both with the same fidelity and precision. These are examples of resource allocation that refuses to compartmentalize professional efficiency and personal fulfillment. Unlike previous technologies that further entrenched women in prescribed roles, AI has the potential to follow women across all domains of life. So, how do we fix this? 1. Redefine productivity as self-care When 78% of young women report they are simply trying to get through the day, were looking at a crisis of sustainable solutions. AI offers an alternative: What if getting things done could be both excellent and guilt-free? This shift requires a fundamental reframing for women. Instead of asking Am I capable of doing this myself? the question becomes Is this the highest and best use of my capabilities and time? Suddenly, outsourcing restaurant research or flight refunds isnt lazy, its strategic. And when tasks are streamlined and coordination becomes effortless, the mental bandwidth that was once consumed by logistics is freed up for vision, creativity, and genuine rest. Unlike previous technologies that created new forms of performance pressure, AIs most radical feature could be its indifference to human social hierarchies and gendered expectations. 2. Shape the algorithm to work for us For AI to truly serve womens needs rather than simply digitizing existing biases, women must be active participants in shaping these tools. Women are adopting AI at rates 25% less than their male counterparts. That adoption gap isnt just a missed opportunity for individual efficiency; its a systemic risk that AI development will continue to prioritize male perspectives and use cases. Every time a woman trains an AI assistant on her specific work, teaches it to understand her communication style, or provides feedback on its suggestions, shes contributing to a more inclusive technological future. This is not just about representationits about functionality. We cannot afford to let this technology develop without us, only to discover later that it replicates the same systems that have historically constrained us. WOMEN DESERVE SUPPORT WITHOUT LIMITS In a culture that has long demanded women take on more tasks to become more, AI represents something revolutionary: technology that encourages taking up space by alleviating pressures. Its permission to ask for what you need without apology, to optimize for you rather than survival, to treat your time and energy as genuinely valuable resources. The women who understand this arent just early adopters of technology, theyre pioneers of a new paradigm where support isnt scarce, help isnt shameful, and free time is not a luxury, but a human right. In embracing AI, theyre not just changing how shit gets done, theyre modeling what it looks like when women are able to be as big as their ambitions demand. Meghan Joyce is cofounder and CEO of Duckbill.
Category:
E-Commerce
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