Presentation by Pari Namazie for iBridges Berlin 2015 conference. Session was titled Co-Opetition: Reaching new heights through collaboration. This presentation was based on what constitutes healthy competition in groups, start ups and teams. The presentation includes feedback received through group discussions.

1. CO-OPETITION:
REACHING NEW HEIGHTS THROUGH COLLABORATION
PREPARED BY PARI NAMAZIE
MANAGING PARTNER, ATIEH INTERNATIONAL
WWW.ATIEHINTERNATIONAL.COM
CHAIRWOMAN, THE SIMORGH
WWW.THESIMORGH.COM
BERLIN - 5 AND 6 JUNE 2015

2. In an entrepreneurial environment, an idea needs to
be shared in a trust based environment, however
building and supporting such an environment takes
time. This is an interactive session, using activities
and group discussion to identify what we need as
individuals and organizations to foster constructive
cooperation. The end product will be an action plan
to work towards building stronger co-opetition.
2

3. The WHY
 In preparing the iBridges Conference program, we wanted to address
the issue of culture and the importance of creating a trust based
environment where we can share and collaborate and reach win-win
solutions,
 Hence the idea for the co-opetition workshop...
 2 interactive workshops were presented at the conference.
 The following slides contain both original slides prepared by the
facilitator but also feedback and group discussion results of the talented
audience.
 These slides have been promised to the participants and anyone else
interested in this subject.
 This is a dialogue we need to continue and will do so in future iBridges
conferences and Simorgh workshops.
Prepared by Pari Namazie 3

4. What are your expectations from this workshop?
 Making it local and taking culture into account
 Learning how to share the positive icture!
The concept of leadership + management
 How do we reach a win-win mentality
 How to feel you are a part of the team!
 Practical perspectives of team working
 Focusing on “your role” as an individual in a group
 Getting away from the concept of all Chiefs and no Indians
 How to work hard as a team
 Understanding the employer/ employee relationship and roles
 Understanding the role of the leader here and in Iran
 How to deal with weak teamwork
 Understanding who does what/ who sets what
 The cultural issue / cultural aspect
 Competition - winning vs. improving
 Also exploring these issues internationally!
 Issue of sharing risks and rewards in a group
 How to create a culture of win-win
 How to work together
 How to trust our colleagues Prepared by Pari Namazie 4

5. What is healthy competition?
 Transparency
Fairness
 Reaching mutual goals
 Reaching / developing inspiration
 Reaching / developing a win-win strategy
Prepared by Pari Namazie 5

6. What is co-opetition?
 Simultaneous competition and co-operation
between a company and external players such as
rivals, government agencies, suppliers
 Collaboration between business competitors, in
the hope of mutually beneficial results
 In Iran, we have a win-lose mentality, how do we
turn this into win-win
Prepared by Pari Namazie 6

7. Learning from a trust activity
 We learnt:
• It takes time to learn how to work together
• We have to identify the rules first
• Go with a good idea even if yours is not as good
• Learnt to trust one another
• Learnt it is about WE, not I
• Learnt that together we want to win and reach our
goal
Prepared by Pari Namazie 7

8. Learning from distrust
 We learnt:
• Distrust is disruptive
• We were constantly suspicious of one another and
attacking one another
• Confused
• Could not reach our goal
• We lost time and energy
• Could only rely on myself
• Withheld information, because I did not know who
to trust
• There was chaos in the group
Prepared by Pari Namazie 8

9. P-O-I-N-T System
Pluses
What we like? What works
about our collaboration? The
highlights?
Opportunities
What opportunities will this
bring for us?
Issues
What are the issues we are
facing?
New Thinking
How can we solve the issues?
How can we reach our goal?
Prepared by Pari Namazie 9

10. Group I Responses
Pluses and Opportunities
 Maximal potential / efficient
 Win-Win
 Divide and conquer
 High-speed progress
 Self-confidence
 Unity / Synergic / Common goal
 Creating more ideas / Creativity
 Thinking from different views /
Diversity
 Motivation / Talent / Respect / Trust
 No judgement
Issues
 Different ways of thinking
 Chaos / Misunderstanding / Tension
 Being an I, not a We
 Accepting new ideas / Open door
policy
 Connection
 Negative thinking
Prepared by Pari Namazie 10
New Thinking
 Defining different roles: Moderation…
 Trust and understanding
 Well-defined issue, problem / mutual
understanding
 Say yes instead of NO ( => accepting
new ideas / Open door policy)
 Motivation

11. Group I Responses
Pluses and Opportunities
 Accept differences / diversity
 Build trust
 Leader / Manager who is trustworthy
 Choose right people in the right
position
 Share / Have the same goal / vision /
dream
 Transparency
 Give value to each individual
 Developing friendship in a team
 Being caring and feeling connected
with other people
 Feeling supported and the importance
of family
Issues
 Definition of the task
 Briefing the team
 No trust!
 Communication
Prepared by Pari Namazie 11
New Thinking
 Clear vision
 Coaching
 Each single person plays an important
role (Value)
 Co-opetition
 Design thinking
 Think BIG

12. To finding success in our WE!
Prepared by Pari Namazie 12

13. Thank you!
 For more information, please contact:
 pari@atiehinternational.com
 Or visit us at:
 www.atiehinternational.com
 www.thesimorgh.com
Prepared by Pari Namazie 13