Promoting rivalry for innovation's sake

The history of innovation is full of rivalries, some friendly, some less so, where creative people challenged each other, egged each other on and ultimately pushed each other on to triumphs that otherwise would not have been possible. Think of the scramble to decode DNA in Watson's The Double Helix. Think of the competition among the Renaissance painters. Think of the exploration of North America and the race to the moon.

Yet, within corporations, it is often considered impolite to have even a friendly rivalry. Such behavior may be seen as anti-team, egotistical and disruptive. When a creative person is driven to say I'm better than you are and then to prove it, that's immature.