Recommendation
Author's Note
Prologue: Memories of the Olympic 7 minutes 8.66 seconds
Introduction: How We Became Obsessed with Winning

Part 1: What is victory?

Chapter 1: A Society That Shouts "Loser": The Language of Victory Permeates Our Daily Lives
Chapter 2: Are Humans Originally Like This?: A Scientific Interpretation That Leads to Misunderstanding and Prejudice
Chapter 3: Losers Don't Speak: History Only Records Victory

Part 2: How Victory Destroys Humanity

Chapter 4: How Long Should We Win?: A Lifelong Competitive Life, From Childhood to Adulthood
Chapter 5: Who is the best student in this class?: The impact of competitive spirit on education.
Chapter 6: Athletes Who Cry and Laugh at Medals: The Myths and Truths of Elite Sports
Chapter 7: Becoming a Top Company: The Unrelenting Competition of Business
Chapter 8: How to Win in War, Elections, and Politics: The True Face of a 21st-Century Global Winner

Part 3: How to Achieve Lasting Victory

Chapter 9: Things That Last Longer Than Trophies: Long-Win Thinking and the 3Cs
Chapter 10: Redefining Success: Clarity
Chapter 11 How to Learn: Consistent Learning
Chapter 12: People Come First: Connection
Chapter 13: People Seeking Victory in a New Era: Stories of Long-Term Winners
A pharmaceutical company responsible for everything from human health to employee growth.
- The Minister of Education who designed the future generation happiness law
- A non-profit organization connecting sports and society
- A construction industry CEO who believes in the field and values ​​it.
- Career coaches who rejected the typical promotion path.
- A youth soccer team that gives every child a chance to play
- The teacher who completely changed the school's physical education class
A coffee company that focuses on people rather than numbers.
- Transforming passive consumers into 'participatory citizens'

In closing, new language, questions, and stories
Epilogue Crossing the finish line
Appendix 1: Long Win Thinking vs. Short Win Thinking
Appendix 2: Applying Long-Win Thinking to the Workplace
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How did we become so obsessed with winning?
Surviving in a competitive society

“Are you guys champions or losers?” That’s what author Cass Bishop heard every day during his Olympic days.
The journey from a child who didn't like sports during her school days to becoming a British women's rowing medalist was a difficult one.
He won silver and gold medals at the World Championships and qualified for the 2000 Sydney Olympics, but finished ninth, feeling his career was over.
When Cass attempted again at the 2004 Athens Olympics, many doubted his chances.
Based on past records, I thought I would never win a medal.
Cass won a silver medal that day.
At first, I was confused about whether I should be happy.
There were a lot of emotions mixed between missing out on the gold medal and winning the silver medal.


The Olympic spirit emphasizes enjoying the process rather than the result, but the media focused on the color and number of medals, and interviews that captured the feelings of winners and losers, rather than these values.
Cass's teammate, who won the third silver medal, was as sad as if he had lost a family member.
People around him who had expected him to win a gold medal were disappointed in him, and he himself was in pain.
Cass felt a sense of crisis about the reality that the color of a medal determines an athlete's worth.
Why should I feel so guilty for coming in second? What responsibility does the society that fosters this culture bear? This is the pitfall of a competitive society.
While the belief that competition leads to rapid growth is widespread, voices pointing out its negative effects have received little attention.


The fall and deviation of those who became the best…
Victory supremacy that destroys humanity

The corruption hidden behind the trophies was countless.
The obsession with competition is evident in every aspect of our daily lives, from the rampant violence, bribery, and drug use in sports, to companies manipulating results to become the best in their field, to students and parents cheating to achieve top grades.
The author observes that in such a society, the benefits gained through misconduct are short-lived, but the resulting damage is extensive and difficult to reverse.
Ben Johnson, a track and field athlete who competed in the 1988 Seoul Olympics, won the gold medal by setting a new world record, but the award was revoked three days later after it was discovered that he had taken illegal drugs.
The time of glory he enjoyed lasted only about 55 hours.
It's a brief moment compared to living with that disgrace for the rest of your life.

How did this obsession with victory arise? Without even realizing it, language related to winning and losing has become deeply ingrained in our daily lives.
Language about victory, such as 'how to succeed', 'success quotes', 'the difference between the rich and the poor', 'victory fairy', 'our team is the winning team', and 'overwhelming victory', is used everywhere, in the media, books, speeches by celebrities, TV dramas, and conversations with friends.
It is common to see first place being highlighted wherever you go.
Historically, the history of the countries that won the war is mainly recorded, and it is difficult to find records of the defeated countries and ethnic minorities.
Those who argue that competition is hardwired into our DNA cite Darwin's "struggle for existence" as an example.
But in reality, Darwin used it in a broader, metaphorical sense, including the dependence of one organism on another.
Isn't this kind of one-sided perception further fueling today's competitive spirit?

Life doesn't exist to produce results.
Instead of fleeting glory, for lasting victory.

People always think that 'number one' is superior.
Many teachers in the UK and the US are leaving the profession, exhausted by the competitive nature of education.
As grades become more important, arts and physical education such as art, music, and physical education are drastically reduced, and even major subjects are focused on teaching techniques needed for exams, making creative education impossible.
Even in companies, people are accustomed to focusing on results rather than processes and to inducing competition between teams.
Even though they are on the same team, teamwork breaks down because of the 'fight over rice bowls'.
However, the author, who interviewed numerous people, found that getting high grades or receiving a high salary is not the same as feeling happy, and that an environment that encourages competition actually breeds corruption and unhappiness.
Korea is particularly accustomed to competition.
The "zero-sum game" of competing over who gets into the best college, who earns the highest salary, and who can buy their own home first causes inevitable suffering for modern people, as it encourages comparison with others and hinders happiness.


But life doesn't exist to produce results.
The moment we use the words “victory” and “failure” to evaluate life, we completely ignore life as a process.
The author suggests that we should move beyond the prevailing dichotomy of victory and defeat in society and move toward cooperation and coexistence.
There are three elements needed to do this.
The first is clarity.
It emphasizes that individuals should clearly define the type of success they desire and their standards, and not be obsessed with easily changeable numbers and immediate results.
If you have your own clear standards, you won't suffer by comparing yourself to others.
The second is constant learning.
It emphasizes that no matter what the immediate results are, you should not lose your attitude toward learning.
In a rapidly changing world, your attitude toward learning is your competitive edge.
If you focus on learning, you will become a person who grows and develops no matter what storms you face.
If you focus on 'how' to do something rather than 'what' to do, you can actually achieve better results.
The third is connection with other people.
The author, having worked as a diplomat for 12 years and experienced countless negotiations, has learned the following: "Get the people, and you get everything."
If you can't connect, you'll struggle in situations where cooperation is needed.
If you ignore your relationships and focus on competition, you will only get further away from your goals and your satisfaction will decrease.

The final chapter of this book features stories of world leaders seeking victory in a new era.
Reading these nine examples of companies that have broken free from conventional corporate rules—a pharmaceutical company that created a corporate culture that cares not only about human health but also about the well-being of its employees, a youth soccer team that gives every child a chance to play and is run entirely by the children's opinions, and a coffee company that values ​​not only the quality of its coffee but also the experiences of its suppliers and coworkers—will give you the courage to believe that success is possible even if you change your prejudices and perceptions.
By reading this book and realizing the truth about the winner's culture that you may have overlooked before, you will be able to define your own success, something more valuable than a trophy.
I hope we all find lasting victory.