# Scarcity and Value By:: [[Ross Jackson]] 2024-12-28 For most resources, there is a positive relationship between scarcity and value. The scarcer a resource is, the more valuable it is. The resource in question doesn’t matter much. One could be discussing gold, water, money, or time. When these things are abundant, their relative value is diminished. When they are scarce, one values them a great deal. There are both economic and psychological dimensions to this phenomenon. This dynamic produces a paradox of sorts for those interested in organizational change. The point of organizational change is frequently to increase the presence of a scarce attribute. Because the attribute is scarce, it is valued. Let’s assume that an office is filled with phonies and one is interested in cultivating greater authenticity at work. If one is successful, the organization will become filled with authentic workers. It is questionable whether the organization will still value authenticity when it has become abundant. Organizations attempt to cultivate what they lack because the scarcity of that attribute is a constraint. When that attribute is plentiful, it is no longer a constraint, and therefore, other things will become relatively more desired and, consequently, the focus of organizational change. There are lessons here. These lessons are understood intuitively. Workers often say there is always something, and organizational change is never complete. Organizations are victims of their successes and their failures. Or, more nihilistically, there have been no successes. There is always something. At least relatively. An organization can succeed, but those successes change the relative mix of attributes and, therefore, their relative scarcity and value. When that occurs, further “optimization” is needed. The process is inherently dynamic. The optimum is the maximization of the relative value of the organization’s attributes. As those relative values change, so does the optimum solution. There are better and worse organizations. Some organizations are more dynamic, authentic, and encouraging creativity and collaboration. There are no perfect organizations. Organizations are a work in process. The dominant attributes of an organization are always (at least potentially) in flux. As they change, their relative scarcity and value change, too. When this is understood, organizational change is not viewed as an effort toward a given, static goal but as a dynamic, never-ending process of growth and development. Such a focus holds potential for the organization and its individuals. #### Related Items [[Organization]] [[Change]] [[Economics]] [[Value]] [[Strategy]] [[Paradox]]