In anxious times like these, it can feel like “there’s not enough!” and we need to act fast! Our fight-or-flight instincts kick in and we grab the first thing we see or the first thought we have. These instincts kept our prehistoric ancestors alive when they stumbled across a saber-toothed tiger. However, these instincts are ill-suited for the challenges most of us face today.
Scarcity Mindset
In many important contexts, we’ve been conditioned to have a scarcity mindset. Some call this the “Limited Pie Theory”. If you’ve got a 9” pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving – there’s only so much to go around. If someone serves themselves a bigger piece of pie, there’s less pie for the rest of us.
Toilet paper hoarding is a clear example of this. It’s also a clear example of how contagious this mentality can be.
Many things are scarce. Most budgets are tight. We only have 24 hours in a day and 7 days in a week. There are only a fixed number of seats on the airplane. We can only haul so much freight in a 53-foot dry van trailer.
Abundance Mindset
But not everything is scarce. In fact, many of the most important things are abundant! There’s more than enough for everyone. Think of critical resources like oxygen, sunlight, and water. If we all stepped outside to get a breath of fresh air and a little sunshine and had a drink of water – we’re not taking away anyone else’s ability to do the same. These resources are abundant.
Many of our most important intangible resources are abundant. We can be more generous with our praise and appreciation. Extend more trust! Empower others. Give others your undivided attention when having a conversation. Gratitude. Forgiveness. Kindness. There’s so much more we can share with others that we have in abundance.
Zoom Out, Then Zoom In
In Great by Choice, Jim Collins introduced the “Zoom Out, Then Zoom In” concept. When hit with something unexpected, our natural tendency is to immediately zoom in. “Tunnel vision” at moments like this can blind us to the best solutions. In times of crisis, don’t impose scarcity on the number of options! Zoom out! View the situation through a wide-angle lens.
When hit with something unexpected, their first question is not, what do we do? Their first question is, how much time do we have to make a decision before the risk profile of this situation changes?
Jim Collins
Collins observed, “When you’re hit with something fast, you tend to think you have to react fast.” But that’s not what the great leaders Collins studied did. Instead, “When hit with something unexpected, their first question is not, what do we do? Their first question is, how much time do we have to make a decision before the risk profile of this situation changes?”
Zoom out, assess the situation, then zoom in! Convert observations into tangible actions. Plan the work, work the plan!
Military Example
Sometimes, scarce resources aren’t as scarce as we think. A memorable example comes from General Stanley McChrystal (author of one of my favorite books, Team of Teams).
While leading the Joint Special Operations Command in Afghanistan, the demand for helicopters exceeded the supply. The initial compromise was to take turns. “My team gets the helicopter tonight, your team gets it tomorrow, and their team gets it the next day.” Nobody loved the solution, but everyone agreed it was “fair.”
Then, someone challenged the arrangement. It was fair, but was it effective? Was it helping them win the war? Changes were made. Instead of troops viewing each other as competitors for scarce resources, they saw each other as teammates working together on the same mission. They began collaborating and working together to optimize the use of helicopters. Sometimes they could accomplish multiple missions on a single raid. Other times, one group only needed the helicopter for a couple of hours and could then let someone else use the helicopter for the rest of the night.
Solutions like these helped the soldiers go from 14 raids per month in Iraq in August 2004 to more than 300 raids per month in August 2006.
(This is also a great example of the speed of trust and the power of “collecting trust dividends” rather than “paying trust taxes.”)
Let’s Do This!
Resist the urge to view the world through a “limited pie” mindset. Zoom out. Get creative. See the abundance. Miracles will happen. Don’t live in the past and long for a return of what was. Learn from the past, then turn around and get busy building the future!
