Miscellaneous
Sufficiency vs. Scarcity: A state of mind.
Recently, a respected friend and colleague of mine introduced me to an organization called "The Sufficiency Foundation". Their motto is:
A world that works
for everyone
with no one
and nothing left out
I don't know about you, but I like the sound of that.
Of course, for me, what immediately comes up is skepticism. That little voice in my head says, "yeah, right!" But, I am not that little voice – I am much more than that (and so are you, by the way). The notion behind their organization is, first of all, that we carry an unconscious belief of scarcity around with us in our day-to-day lives. That is, we believe there isn't enough time, money, employment, food, accommodation, whatever. This belief influences our day-to-day interactions with people, as well as our long term goals. And, they are here to say (if I am understanding them right) that the notion of scarcity is more a state of mind than a reality.
What became clear very quickly is that what they stand for is a critical part of what we strive to convey to our clients as we work with them around the world. At a minimum, we demonstrate that SCARCITY IS A RELATIVE NOTION, NOT ABSOLUTE. We do this through experiential exercises that mimic their real-world circumstances, and we watch as group after group either creates a situation of scarcity or a situation of abundance. Said differently, they either destroy or create goodwill, profits, benefits, and so on. They are given the exact same instructions and the exact same context every time. So, what is it that changes the results? Their assumptions, beliefs, fears, and greed, and the approach they take based on that.
The Sufficiency Foundation is a small organization, but I am inspired by what they are up to, so I chose to allocate Common Outlook's year-end charitable donation to them. At this time of year, with so many of us scrambling to buy buy buy all kinds of "things" that we think will make us and others happy, I feel their message is especially appropriate. I encourage you to check out their site and see what you can incorporate into your daily life to live the principle of Sufficiency. Check them out at www.SufficiencyFoundation.com.
