Editor’s Note: Thought leader Grace Ueng is CEO of Savvy Growth, a noted leadership coaching and management consultancy. Grace writes a regular column on Happiness & Leadership for WRAL TechWire. Companies hire her firm for coaching and consulting, as well as to facilitate HappinessWorks™ programs, infusing the happiness advantage into corporate culture, leading to higher productivity and results.
Note to readers: WRAL TechWire would like to hear from you about views expressed by our contributors. Please send email to: info@wraltechwire.com.
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RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK – I began my positive psychology studies as a proactive step to avoid despondency when my only child left for college in 2015. One of the first books I read was Stanford Psychologist, Carol Dweck’s Mindset.
“The mind is everything, what you think, you become.”
When Satya Nadella became CEO of Microsoft he wanted to transform the culture to be more flexible and innovative, so he made the book required reading for all employees. My son’s high school, Cary Academy, had all their faculty read the book too. Dweck found that children who believe that intelligence can be developed are better able to overcome academic challenges. Research conducted at Miami and Yale revealed that middle aged adults with more positive beliefs around aging lived 7.5 years longer than those with less positive self perceptions on aging.
What is the scarcity mindset?
This refers to a zero sum game – that if one person wins, this leaves less for others. This has been common in the corporate world, why individuals may hoard information or guard their turf tightly.
Princeton University’s Eldar Shafir and Harvard’s Sendhil Mullainathan, have studied the psychology of scarcity, and how people’s minds are less efficient when they feel they lack something — whether it is money, time, calories or even companionship.
Their book Scarcity: Why Having Too Little Means So Much shares research on how scarcity leads us astray. In his landmark book The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People, Stephen Covey showed how a scarcity mindset is self limiting and holds people back in their personal and professional lives, while an abundance mindset helps people find personal and professional satisfaction and success.
A scarcity mindset consumes what Shafir calls “mental bandwidth” — brain power that would otherwise go to less immediate concerns, planning ahead and problem-solving. This deprivation can lead to a host of issues including being preoccupied with aspects of their lives that are unfilled, focusing on unproductive and self-defeating thoughts, and/or dwelling negatively on the accomplishments of others.
Given how their thoughts are narrowly tunneled, those that possess this type of mindset most often don’t realize how they are hurting themselves. Scarcity mentality isn’t something you adopt on purpose. It’s the background noise your brain makes that can cost you. Research shows that this mentality can lower your IQ by 14 points. It limits your brain’s ability to solve problems and to reason logically leading to irrational and catastrophizing thinking. Too much time is wasted on disasters that are highly improbable rather than creating healthy possibilities. A scarcity mindset can lead to impulsive behavior that is irrational and discomforting to those around you, making things worse for everyone.
Image courtesy of Grace Ueng
Abundant Mindset – the opposite
An abundance mindset is the opposite, it reflects thinking that there is plenty out there for everybody.
I joined a new community group in my church and at my first meeting, our leader asked if there were certain sayings that we found useful. I shared that “comparison is the thief of joy” has been so helpful for me. My yoga teacher started a session years ago with this simple quote, and it has stuck with me ever since.
I recently read Rosabeth Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander’s book The Art of Possibility (new starts, state of flow & the art of possibility). Their approach to life is the complete opposite of the scarcity mentality that many struggle with today. I purchased tickets for the Boston Philharmonic’s performance this past weekend. The hour before the 8pm start, maestro Benjamin Zander led a vibrant pre-concert explanation of what we were about to experience. It is a rarity for a conductor to personally lead such a pre-show event given how much they have to juggle, but Zander does this before every performance. He operates from a mindset of abundance; he wants his audiences to gain the very most from experiencing the music.
How can we cultivate an abundant mindset?
1. Be grateful for what you have, even the smallest things. Releasing comparison and instead focusing on what I have in my life has increased my well-being. Thanksgiving is coming up, and it is a customary practice in many households to go around the table and share for which each person is thankful.
Why not do this every day? Research shows that this is the simplest and most effective way to increase well being. In my journaling, for years I have listed 3 things each day for which I am grateful. I increased to 5 things as I’ve read this more recently as an even better number to articulate.
2. Be picky about with whom you spend time. Who surrounds you?
Do you hire people smarter than you or those that won’t challenge your thinking so that you can always be right? Do you have treasured friendships with those that make you a better person?
“Who you spend time with is who you become!
Change your life by consciously choosing
to surround yourself with people with higher standards!”
– Tony Robbins
3. Focus on the wealth of possibilities, rather than spending too much time worrying about contingency planning for disasters. This is an important mindset I ask people to adopt in ideation sessions – I establish the ground rule at the start that no idea is to be censored. Every idea has possibility.
Some of the most interesting marketing programs I’ve managed came out of abundant thinking sessions – whether it be me sitting at my desk reviewing data on my own or brainstorming around a table with my team. In both situations, I’ve been open….and that’s when amazing things can happen.
4. Operate from a position of giving people the benefit of the doubt
versus being dubious about the intentions of others. This lets them know that you believe in them, that you trust they are being the best they can, and that you know they also want a good outcome. Healthy relationships are built on a foundation of trust. The benefit of the doubt is the most powerful tool for establishing and maintaining trust in any important relationship.
Have the courage to say to someone else (even your boss) who may have misunderstood you, “Please give me the benefit of the doubt…”
- “that I didn’t mean it the way you took it” or
- “you misunderstood what I said, and that was not what I meant.”
Practice saying this out loud – clearly and directly, so they know you are asking them to trust you and go toward you, rather than shutting the conversation down.
When we give others the benefit of the doubt, it takes some of the pressure off the conversation, allowing us to listen actively, and really hear what the other person is saying.
Who can you give the benefit of the doubt this week?
The benefits will far outweigh the risks. Try it and see!
About Grace Ueng
Grace is CEO of Savvy Growth, a leadership coaching and management consultancy founded in 2003. Her great passion to help leaders and the companies they run achieve their fullest potential combined with her empathy and ability to help leaders figure out their “why” are what clients value most.
Grace’s core offerings are one-on-one coaching for CEOs and their leadership teams, facilitating workshops on Personal Branding and Speaking Success and conducting strategic reviews for companies at a critical juncture. A TED speaker, she is hired to give motivational keynotes and lead Happiness Works™programs for companies and campuses.
A marketing strategist, Grace held leadership roles at five high growth technology ventures that successfully exited through acquisition or IPO. She started her career at Bain & Company and then worked in brand management at Clorox and General Mills. She earned her undergraduate degree from MIT and MBA from Harvard Business School.
Grace and her partner, Rich Chleboski, her MIT classmate and accomplished cleantech veteran, develop and implement strategies to support the growth of impact focused companies and then coach their leaders in carrying out their strategic plans. Their expertise spans all phases of the business from evaluation through growth and liquidity.
