Co-opetition: A Different Talent Strategy for Non-Profit Arts
By Leandro A. Zaneti
Like many industries post-pandemic, the non-profit theater industry is facing a critical need to rethink how we attract, recruit, retain and develop the administrative talent within our workforce. Nonprofits have always been challenged in recruiting and retaining talent because for-profit entities have always been able to offer higher salaries, and more resources. Now, as corporations become more “mission-driven” and socially responsible, we face even stricter competition. Workers who previously would have come to the nonprofit to pursue their individual mission can now have the best of both worlds - a social mission and a corporate-level salary. On top of this, the pandemic shifted priorities for many, causing potential leaders to reconsider their career paths. In the face of these major shifts, the traditional competitive strategy I see many nonprofits continue to pursue is no longer sufficient. As a recruiter, I often hear the question, “Could this person hit the ground running,” as the marker for whether or not a candidate is qualified for any role. I fear that if we continue with this kind of thinking, without a major intervention, we won’t have enough folks to power the current number of arts organizations in the field. Here’s my proposal: Let’s stop competing for talent amongst ourselves. Let’s instead coordinate our efforts on attracting and retaining more people into this field. Can we loosely agree on organizational principles that help each other out and the whole sector shares responsibility? It's time for us to move from competition to coopetition—a strategy that encourages collaboration to expand our talent pool while still fostering healthy competition for top candidates.
Co-opetition is a business term made popular among business strategists by Adam Brandenbauer’s book, Co-Opetition. Brandenbauer encourages a move away from thinking of business strategy as war strategy, where there is necessarily a winner and a loser. Instead, he proposes that “most businesses succeed only if others also succeed.” He posits a new mindset where “Business is cooperation when it comes to creating a pie and competition when it comes to dividing it up.” To me, co-opetition is just business jargon for the concept of interdependence. It provides a framework for thinking about how we can ensure the longevity and vibrancy of our field by working together. But how does this work in practice? My favorite example of co-opetition is the infamous “Got Milk?” campaign of the 90’s. Born out of a response to the rise in the consumption of carbonated beverages, dairy farmers in California joined forces to establish a nonprofit marketing board to advertise the benefits of milk. They knew they had to convince people of the benefits of drinking milk so that they could regain some of the market share of beverage sales. They also recognized that individually, none of them could compete with the likes of a corporation like Coca-Cola. By combining their efforts, the dairy industry brought more people back to drinking milk and increasing the number of buyers in the industry. Once the buyers were buying milk again, they could compete individually for which milk those folks bought. That, in a nutshell, is co-opetition: working together to increase the size of the pie, then competing for how to split it.
This is what I see for the field - a cooperative effort to train the workforce we currently have and attract new talent to the field.
In my vision, small and mid-sized theaters become talent incubators, developing generalists who understand the full spectrum of theater operations. These organizations build robust training programs and infrastructures to handle turnover. Rather than resenting candidates who move on (as I’ve seen happen in the non-profit arts since the beginning of my career), these companies celebrate their talent moving to larger roles. This approach attracts better entry-level talent, turning these theaters into 'feeder' organizations renowned for supporting and nurturing future leaders.
Meanwhile, larger organizations would focus on developing specialists within their ranks, creating a deep pool of experts in niche roles. This specialization allows for upward mobility at every level of the organization, with generalists from smaller theaters moving into specialized roles and specialists gaining broader leadership opportunities. In addition, larger organizations can reinstitute apprenticeship and internship opportunities for entry-level talent to truly have on-the job training. This will require organizations to develop a clear pedagogy and practice of education so as not to perpetuate the exploitative internships of the past. Together, this creates a dynamic talent exchange beneficial to the entire field.
To make this vision a reality, investment from all types of organizations will be crucial. Foundations will have to prioritize workforce development, providing grants for infrastructure and professional development, subsidizing salaries at smaller theaters, and covering turnover costs. Service organizations will need to play a key role in offering practical education and training programs to spread knowledge. Education programs such as Masters programs will need to focus on improving the analytical and strategic thinking skills that continue to push our practices forward, and that prepare their students to tackle the enormous challenges our organizations face.
Our retention goals must shift from individual organizations to the broader theater community. By working together to cultivate and retain talent, we can navigate this challenging moment and ensure a vibrant future for nonprofit theater. If we fail to act, we risk adding a talent crisis to the list of challenges threatening our field. Let’s embrace co-opetition and transform our approach to talent for the better.
