A Scarcity Mindset isn’t Good for Branding
By Levina Kusumadjaja
Have you ever felt you had to say “yes” to every client that walked through your door, because you’re scared there won’t be anymore clients? Have you ever felt anxious about being in a community of creatives because you’re constantly worried about competing with one another? Have you ever changed your process for the sake of pleasing your clients and then totally regretted your decision after? If you have felt all of these things, you’re not alone, I have felt them too. And the one root of the problem is this: the scarcity mindset.
The scarcity mindset is a way of thinking that says: “there won’t be enough for everyone.” The scarcity mindset invites creatives to be wrapped in their own bubble, encouraging competition more than collaboration because it sees other people as threats instead of fellow learners. This mindset does nobody good and that motivated me to write about this topic. I believe that if we all can embrace the abundance mindset and understand why the scarcity mindset is so dangerous, we will be better strategists—heck, we will be better people.
Harmful for the personal growth process
In my personal journey, scarcity mindset has stopped me from growing my skillset and broadening my perspective. I wanted to hoard all clients to me, even if I know I wasn’t the best person they could go to. I was afraid to say “no” to clients that I knew from the start won’t work well with me, not because they are bad people, but simply because we had a different process and they didn’t really see the value of my thinking.
But this wasn’t right, because I ended up giving less value to my clients, and I produced work that I wasn’t most proud of. I became so busy defending my solutions that actually needed growth instead of focusing on how I can make them better and help my clients more effectively. I kept working with clients that robbed the joy of writing and creative work because I was afraid of not getting other clients in the future. It was damaging my own learning process. It was keeping me bound from trying new things and growing in my thinking.
Harmful for the strategic process
For the creatives, scarcity mindset creates so much anxiety in your work process and affect the value you give for your clients. What do I mean by anxiety? Because I desperate wanted to prove my worth, I was scared to be open to my clients. I was scared to ask questions because I was worried that clarifying ideas will make my clients feel like I was dumb. I wanted to please my clients through and through, and I would even tweak my strategic process to make them happy.
This is what the scarcity mindset does. Because I was fixated on the idea that I would run out of clients and there was so much I could do, it was difficult for me to learn and think outside of the box. I didn’t have the courage to suggest and advise my clients on what I felt was probably the better solution to their problem. Instead of inviting the client to see the worth in my process and encouraging them to jump into strategy with me, I allowed the client to dictate the strategic process. When in reality, this strategic process is much needed for me to help my clients reach their goals.
Harmful for the brand building process
We talked about how it affects the strategic process, which means that it will affect the brand building process. The scarcity mindset discourages innovation because it sees innovation was wasteful. It doesn’t approve of the trial and error needed for innovation to work and it doesn’t approve of the learning process. It wants instant success, guaranteed results, and proven methods to get there.
The scarcity mindset taught me to stick to what I already knew. I was worried about my reputation and my insecurities, so I almost always chose the safest and most predictable solutions over what my clients really needed. I would encourage my clients to do what other clients had already done before, or what their competitors were doing, instead of exploring new ways. It wasn’t helpful for the clients and for me.
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The list can go on, but I will stop here for now. Do you see now how damaging this scarcity mindset really is? Do you see how urgent it is for you to begin embracing the abundance mindset, so that you protect yourself from experiencing a lot of the negative things I’ve shared above? I have never met a person who doesn’t want to be a better person and do greater things. Obviously, the scarcity mindset will stop you from doing that. If you can relate to the stories above, you can learn more about recognizing your value as a creative and no longer being an oder taker here.
Cheers!
Levina
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About the author:
Levina is a writer based in Indonesia. Because of Melinda Livsey, she recognized the power of brand strategy for every creative. She is sharing about her learnings as she goes to help creatives have fun in their growth and journey of building brands. Connect with her on LinkedIn and say hi!