Thanks David, you've definitely helped to clarify my vague comments. Here is the scene from the movie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srgdg5tgPJk
Beyond even the situation of our competition with one and other, however, I am thinking of our competition with other Free Software ERP systems. Ironically, establishing an equilibrium of players where none of us "wins" may cause OFBiz to dominate the larger game of establishing the ERP standard. Most of our Free Software competitors represent a single organization that is trying to use "community software" as a competitive edge against the proprietary players. We are moving towards a model with the primary goal of sharing value between a diverse set of implementors without a single dominant group. That is a big, and perhaps critical, difference. So "getting the girl" is "establishing the standard for open ERP". If we each try to be the single victor then everyone goes home empty handed but if everyone accepts a slightly smaller prize then we all succeed. Finding a way to formalize this proposition is entirely another matter but I think its important. An interesting book on this topic is "The Evolution of Cooperation" by Axelrod. The wikipedia article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Evolution_of_Cooperation is also good reading. ----- "Jacques Le Roux" wrote: > Thanks for the detailled explanation. Very useful for people who don't see > the film ! > Jacques > From: "David E Jones" <david.jo...@hotwaxmedia.com> > > > > Yeah, that's an interesting social dynamic. Thanks for mentioning that > > Ean. > > > > If I understand right how that applies to us as collaborating service > > providers the basic idea is that we don't all go after the same > > client, or more generally that the situation will be better for all of > > us if we voluntarily back off from a prospect if we find out that they > > are further along with another service provider. Of course the client > > will pursue who they will, but it doesn't do any of us any good to > > fight over clients or subvert the efforts of other service providers. > > > > In that particular scene there was the "super-attractive" prospect > > that everyone wanted to go for, and the point was that if all of the > > guys went for her then chances are none of them would "land the deal" > > as it were (she could only pick one, and chances are she'd get upset > > and pick none of them, and what's worse is then the other ladies > > wouldn't want to be the second pick so they wouldn't accept the guys > > either). Only by collaborating and deciding to ignore her would the > > guys have a higher hit/miss ratio with the others. > > > > It'll be interesting if that situation ever comes up literally in this > > community. In other words, if there is ever a very visible client that > > we all know is contacting various service providers and we all go for > > that client and ignore other prospects. That would be a bad thing > > overall, and is certainly a danger! > > > > A more likely scenario, and one that I know has happened a lot, is the > > 2-3 service providers will be competing fiercely and sometimes > > unfairly for a single client. It's natural that a client would talk to > > multiple service providers before choosing, but when we as service > > providers cross the line it does a lot of general harm. One thing I > > consider to be crossing the line are things like looking at client > > lists of other service providers and trying to contact those companies > > and ask them to switch over. There are probably lots of others that > > are shady and that may or may not cross the line. > > > > We can all put specific effort into playing nicely, and that is > > probably the main point of this. For example, if a company contacts > > you and you know they are working with another service provider then a > > chat with that other service provider is a good gesture... if it is > > okay with the company of course (ie better to ask the company before > > telling the other service provider that the company has approached you). > > > > Anyway, these situations are often messy and I've heard a number of > > stories over years, usually from one side of the situation and > > sometimes from both sides. I suppose another part of the lesson from > > the scene from "A Beautiful Mind" is that even if someone does step in > > and steal your thunder unfairly with a client, and it looks like the > > client will be choosing them, the best thing to do is back off ASAP > > (preferably before other of your prospects notice too much) and go > > after other prospects more. > > > > Of course, one really nice thing that simplifies (and in a way > > complicates...) our situation more is that no client expects a service > > provider to be exclusive. If you neglect a client and don't take care > > of them chances are they will walk, regardless of the cost to them. > > However, if you mention to a client that you're also seeing another > > client, then it's not a big deal and except for a handful of > > unrealistic clients is usually expected and a good thing (it shows you > > have experience, you're not totally dependent on income from them, you > > have the resources to scale up and down for them as needed, etc, etc). > > > > Sorry for the long email. This is a pretty important topic as part of > > the strategy for OFBiz. The whole point is to collaborate in a non- > > commercial way to create and maintain things that are useful in our > > various commercial endeavors. Sometimes those commercial endeavors > > collide because of this commonality, though in reality the industry > > OFBiz applies to is absolutely massive and I don't think we touch even > > 0.5% of it... probably not even 0.05% of it... so there's no use in > > fighting over prospects, or crying over lost prospects either. > > > > On the other hand, I think this sort of community-driven software that > > is open to commercial use and extension is massively scalable and > > someday we could see OFBiz directly or indirectly used for... say... > > 10% of the enterprise software industry. Personally I don't plan to > > change careers until that happens... :) > > > > -David > > > > > > On Apr 14, 2009, at 3:51 PM, Ean Schuessler wrote: > > > >> Absolutely. Success for the project hinges on a successful *group* > >> of integrators. If anyone has seen "A Beautiful Mind", the part > >> where they discuss picking up girls really sums up what we are > >> trying to do. > >> > >> ----- "Jacques Le Roux" wrote: > >>> "collaboration among competitors." that sounds really good to me... > >>> Fair-play ! > >>> Thank you guys (both Brainfood and HWM) > >> > >> -- > >> Ean Schuessler, CTO Brainfood.com > >> e...@brainfood.com - http://www.brainfood.com - 214-720-0700 x 315 > > -- Ean Schuessler, CTO Brainfood.com e...@brainfood.com - http://www.brainfood.com - 214-720-0700 x 315
