The Economy of Abundance: How to Succeed When Scarcity No Longer Drives Value

For centuries, success was about having exclusive access to something others wanted—limited seats, rare products, secret information. Economic power rested in controlling the scarce. But as digital technology multiplies what can be produced, shared, and replicated nearly without limit, a post-scarcity economy is taking shape. Creativity, knowledge, and even influence now scale with how widely, not how tightly, you share.

A teacher uploads a detailed project rubric online and, within weeks, dozens of colleagues improve upon it and send her versions back. A designer releases drafts of her logo work, only to be contacted by a bigger client who appreciates her process transparency. Business models flip: instead of extracting maximum value by withholding, organizations learn to grow faster (and find far more opportunities) when they allow resources to propagate, be remixed, and be reused by others at almost zero cost.

Google’s entire business was built on this logic: it doesn’t own the content it organizes, but the abundance of content—open, findable, and shareable—lets it serve millions efficiently. As more fields realize that value now flows from open platforms and shared networks, those stuck in a scarcity mindset find themselves increasingly irrelevant. In behavioral terms, abundance strategies leverage reciprocity, viral spread, and economies of scale, while scarcity strategies grow brittle and defensive. Leading in the post-scarcity era requires generosity and boldness.

Start by writing down the things you now keep restricted—whether it's your lesson notes, workshop slides, or a club resource guide—because you think they lose value if they're too available. Choose one to release, posting it online or sharing with a wider group, and watch what happens: Do more people connect, comment, or add improvements? Notice when others start to use or build on what you share, and look for ways to make this openness a habit by scheduling regular releases, blog posts, or calls for collaboration. Measure impact not by what you keep, but by the value and opportunity that return to you. Try this once, and you might never see 'giving away your best stuff' the same way again.