Traditionally economics has been defined as the study of scarce resources.
And if there are a limited number of resources then all of us are battling for a share, often leading to win-lose situations.
I have to out-perform or out-bid you to win.
Operating in this way defines what you think is possible for your business and limits your business decisions.
And what if it’s wrong? Or no longer holds true?
Recently I heard Paul Zane Pilzer speak and he argued that the Law of Scarcity at one time held true but not anymore!
He argued that technology (which Paul defined as creating a better method) and changing technology is altering the basic premise of market dynamics.
Technology used to be constant over the course of a persons’ lifetime (eg the Stone Age, the Iron Age, the Industrial Age)
But in the last 40 years technology has been changing at an accelerated rate, and in turn has been altering how we live and work.
For example some years ago what was in the news was the fact we were going to run out of oil in ten years.
Gas prices went up, and more money was spent in accessing oil supplies and advancing alternative fuel technologies.
So here we are some years later and you don’t hear anything in the press. Shouldn’t we be reaching dire conditions with only a few years left?
Absolutely not! They are now saying we have a projected 100 year supply of oil. Were they wrong those few years ago?
No – based on what they knew and the technology at the time the prediction was true.
But since then technology has allowed us to access more oil, be more efficient with how we use it and changed our demand with alternative options.
Technology changed the game from one of scarcity to one of abundance.
Want another example? Do you have a smart phone? If yes, you have about $900,000 worth of software on a small $300 device.
That is the estimated value of all the apps and functions you have access to – everything from a personal assistant to a personal trainer.
Peter Diamandis and Steve Kotler in their new book “Abundance – The Future is Better than You Think” argue that exponentially growing technologies will enable us to make greater gains in the next two decades than we have in the previous two hundred years.
That abundance for all is within our grasp.
So how do you apply this to your business?
First of all I recommend you read the book “Abundance” (Amazon link http://amzn.to/GSxiXo or one of Paul Zane Pilzers’ books. Educate yourself to what is possible.
Understand how technology is changing the game and what’s creating abundance so you can apply that thinking to your business.
If you are dealing with a bottleneck or in some way are being limited from growing, apply some of the “abundance ideas” to the issue.
Abundance ideas such as outsourcing, crowd sourcing, reframing or utilizing a new emerging technology.
Look for ways you can deliver more value to your customers, or streamline and make their lives easier. Embrace the change – it is opening a new world of abundance!
