The original proverb is “Necessity is the mother of invention.” But as we explore the ways we innovate, it’s clear that scarcity rather than necessity plays a big role in sparking creativity. Indeed, if you’re in need of something abundant, you won’t be innovative. It’s scarcity that prompts us to think differently and find new ways to solve problems.
Scarcity affects many parts of our lives: from time and labor to energy, food, and attention. Each scarcity challenges us to think creatively and come up with new solutions.
Time is something we all wish we had more of. Anything that helps us save time or use it better becomes really valuable. Tools like ChatGPT make communication and problem-solving faster and easier. And platforms with good content save us from wasting time on things we don’t enjoy.
When there aren’t enough people to do the work, organizations have to find ways to be more productive. Digitalization, for example, helps streamline processes and automate tasks. In fields like transportation – where I’m working – , automation helps deal with staffing shortages, like in traffic dispatching.
Other resources, like energy and attention, are also scarce because we only have so much time and focus to go around. Using energy efficiently saves us money and time, while managing attention effectively helps us stay focused on what’s important.
When resources are scarce, we naturally start looking for other options. We switch from human to machine labor, look for renewable energy sources, find sustainable food options, and use technology to help manage our attention better.
While necessity might kickstart our creativity, it’s scarcity that really pushes us to innovate.
(The style of the blog post has been improved with ChatGPT, of course)
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