Good thread,

IMHO if a person has been kicked down enough times, they just don't want to get up again. I used to work with people who were long term unemployed, and competition to them was emotional poison.

The thing with competition is that you need to win a few times, and if you lose for long enough, you just want to leave the game. That's hard when the game is your livelihood.

Sorry to be cynical on this one, but I do believe there is a dark side to competition.

Cheers, M