Abundance vs scarcity
Well hello there, and welcome to update #087!
This post is inspired by Sir Hamid Patel’s article for Schools Week in which he argues that that schools have a role in healing the pain of the destruction and fear by focusing on the goodness and light evident even in dark times.
We are hard-wired to notice scarcity. For most of our time on earth, resources to survive have been in short supply. And for some people, in some parts of the world, they still are. Scarcity and danger were constant companions for much of our history. But, for most of us living today, that is not the case.
When we focus on what is missing, we are less capable of noticing the potential for what might be. Getting into the habit of looking for what is good is one way of helping us to feel hopeful, not helpless.
In organisations which have the scarcity mindset, relationships are often characterised by competitiveness rather than co-operation, where there can only be one winner and the rest are losers. In these settings, it is sometimes the case that coming first becomes more important than doing the right thing.
Competitiveness itself is not a bad thing, as it is one of the drivers for improvement, in providing better products and services, in becoming generally better.
However, when it is one colleague out to beat another, it is less healthy because the mindset is: there is only so much acclaim or prestige and I must get it whatever the cost.
What happens when an organisation shifts from a scarcity frame to an abundance frame? For a start, mistakes are not seen as the end of the world.
Most of the mistakes which are made both by organisations and by individuals are not life-threatening.
Mostly, they can be rectified as long as two things happen: one, it is acceptable to own up to mistakes without the fear of ridicule or humiliation and two, everyone asks themselves what can be learnt from this.
The abundance mindset allows us to imagine what it might be like next time, and to act on that, rather than focusing on all the things that have gone wrong.
Learning from mistakes and doing something about them, is fundamental for feeling hopeful, not helpless.
Those who have an abundance mentality do not hoard their ideas or suggestions. They are prepared to share them, even if it makes them feel vulnerable.
They understand that there are always more ideas and suggestions, and that one idea that doesn’t go down well, is not the end of the world.
Again, those who have great expertise and experience in one area are prepared to share that with others, when they are coming from a space of abundance.
Their contribution is always: how can we make this better, how can I help others, what have I got to give?
The irony is that in giving themselves and their ideas away, they are accruing more from others. Not that they do it for this reason.
They do it because they know that abundance is a more productive and healthy place to be, rather than one of scarcity. Individuals who think and work in this way, tend to feel more hopeful than helpless about their own futures.
In the classroom, teachers who work to abundance rather than scarcity principles know that however badly things have gone one day, it does not mean that their practice will always be like that.
And they model this for their pupils. They reassure them that if anything goes wrong in the classroom, that it is not the end of the world; that there is always the next lesson to get things better. And to enjoy the process in the meantime.
They encourage their pupils to see all the good things in their lives, including having them as their teacher, to honour nature, to savour the moment and to look forward to the future. They emphasise the fact that there is enough for everyone.
They emphasise that friendships are not limited to people who are similar to them; that human love is not reduced by being shared and that there is more good than bad in the world.
Until next time
Mary