How to get past narrow fight-it-out zero-sum competition, and promote cooperation? One way is to add options that go "beyond competition" to the toolbox of ideas! Consider the rainbow-colored process flow in this LOOPY causal-cartoon, that goes from Problem Definition (red circle, "Define Goals and Challenges") through the process of decision-making:

Data → Model → Analyze → Assess → Act

Some potential interventions at various stages might include the gray-colored nodes:

• Open the Aperture – consider new valuation metrics for outcomes
• Gather Fresh Data – look for information on alternative timescales and from alternative viewpoints
• Get Out of the Box – embed current "competition" inside larger context
• Generate More Options – propose unconventional (e.g., cooperative) courses of action
• Befriend an Enemy – suggest novel strategies to "adversaries"
• Transcend the System – act to change the causal structure of the situation

(conceptual system-dynamic sketch thanks to LOOPY, an ultralight tool for systems thinking ©2021 MITRE Corporation ...) - ^z - 2021-09-16