Survivor be damned.
I'm talking, of course, about the popular TV show which creates drama by encouraging lying, cheating, backstabbing (really, can murder be far behind?) all in the name of being the one "survivor" or "winner."
(In all fairness, other TV shows do the same - watch any of the Real Housewives franchises).
In terms of entertainment, these things probably have a place in popular culture. In terms of the workplace, the school, the church, the family. . . the idea of an individual winning at any cost is so 1980's.
Which is to say it has no viable place in today's team environment. No one inside of your own environment is the enemy. Back in the 80's, I had an interviewee describe the internal culture of a renowned department store as "running gun battles in the hallway."
It no longer exists - it self-destructed.
Even if it is entertainment, I become perplexed. . .and worried. . .that some people will accept these televised "realities" as reality. Which of course, they are not and shouldn't be. Time and again I have seen people who were self-serving (all in the deluded belief that that's how one gets ahead in life) fail and fall. . .and fall hard.
Conversely, I have seen people who were experts at forming great consensus building teams succeed. . .and succeed beyond imagination.
Teamwork. Collaboration. Taking counsel. Running ideas past people. Handing ideas off to people who are experts in the area. Being willing to be wrong for the sake of innovation. Honesty. Integrity. All of these are very good, very current ideas that work. They don't make very good television, because it eliminates all of the unnecessary drama.
And I guess that's just the point.
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