Gina and I had a call this week with a man, Alan Rosenblith, who created and directed a movie called The Money Fix (a must see if I do say so). He is working on creating community / virtual currencies.  He said the most amazing thing:  “Currency is what we use to mark what we care about.  The way we mark what we care about allows people to coordinate in particular ways and impacts the kinds of relationships people have.”  Said another way: The currency we use plays a huge role in creating the culture we get.  Ok so this is HUGE.  Really HUGE.  And, we can actually re-architect currency or what we mark to create a different kind of culture, one based on sufficiency.  Our relationship with money, our most beloved, revered, reviled currency has become so troubled so complex that instead of driving forward exchange and relationship its actually inhibiting it.  And the scarcity abundance polarity is at the heart of the breakdown.

“We spent a generation believing certain parts of our business needed to be scarce and that advertising and other interruption should be abundant. Part of the pitch of free is that when advertising goes away, you need to make something else abundant in order to gain attention. Then, and only then, will you be able to sell something that’s naturally scarce.
 This is an uncomfortable flip to make, because the stuff you’ve been charging for feels like it should be charged for, and the new scarcity is often difficult to find. But, especially in the digital world, this is happening, and faster than ever.”  –Seth Godin (bolded words are my emphasis)

Even our most respected leadership guru’s are still working inside of the scarcity abundance flip flop.  We say its time to get out of the roller coaster and create currency based on sufficiency.  How, well stay tuned.  We are learning.  And we will share as we go.