Engineering Generosity
Collection to inspire the book
Engineering Generosity
Generosity is not a loan to repay or a debt to settle. It's a gift to appreciate. Yes, you can reciprocate a favor by paying it back. But the best way to honor an act of kindness is by paying it forward.
No, you don't owe me a favor
Forward, not back
a scarce system is one in which there are limited resources and one person in the system getting those resources means that everyone else can’t have those same resources. A zero-sum game.
Introduction to Abundant Systems
You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help enough other people get what they want.” ~ Zig Ziglar.
Give before getting
scarce systems do what is most likely to succeed right now, because tomorrow isn’t guaranteed. Abundant systems assume that tomorrow will be there, so it’s ok to focus on longer term goals.
Introduction to Abundant Systems
System timelines - short-term scarcity vs long-term abundance
Creators make money so they can make stuff, instead of the other way around.
Dr. Gena Gorlin • Fantastic Builders and Where to Find Them, 5th Installment
This is an important thing to realize.
An abundant system is a system in which any individual in a system acting to achieve their own goals does not negatively impact the other participants’ pursuit of their goals. Another way of saying this is that the system isn’t a zero-sum game.
Introduction to Abundant Systems
In a you-or-me world, reciprocity and collaboration don’t fit.
Lynne Twist • The Soul of Money: Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Life
Competition ruins collaboration
None of us are saints, but we can all try to be better. Each time you do something generous, you're shaping yourself into someone who's more likely to be generous next time, and that matters.
Ted Chiang • Exhalation: Stories
Generosity is self-perpetuating
Reciprocity is not merely generosity; giving away a surplus is an investment, insurance that others will help in your own time of need
Kathleen DuVal • A 600-Year-Old Blueprint for Weathering Climate Change
Insurance