How much of your job involves winning and losing?

[Bricker]

In the practice of criminal law, of course, the winning (and losing!) was obviously a key component of work. Trials were won or lost, and even the process of securing a good deal might be a win, although it resulted in a guilty plea to some charge.

In my current line of work, there's winning and losing as well, although at a bit of a remove. As a government contractor, we compete with other firms for government work. We win contracts, which necessarily means that when we do, others have lost the opportunity for that same work. So it's there, but we never interact directly with our opponents, as I did as a criminal attorney.

My wife's job, on the other hand, doesn't involve competition all. Obviously there are difficulties she must overcome, but they're not in the nature of, "I have to do better than someone else to succeed;" they're more implacable constraints of the nature of the work.

How much competition, how much winning and losing, is there in your work?