5 PRINCIPLE 1 Believing in Abundance

When you look at the world in a narrow way, how narrow it seems! … But when you look at it in a broad, generous, friendly spirit, what wonderful people you find in it.

Horace Rutledge

The first principle—abundance—is included in and foundational to all others. If you don’t believe there is “enough”—enough for you to get what you want and for others to get what they want—resolution will be very difficult. If you believe there is enough, then following the other nine principles and the steps of the model will produce resolution. It will not always be easy, but it is that simple!

Abundance: A Product of Creativity

Abundance is present in any situation as a reflection of your creative capacity. Your creative ideas are the source from which value emerges. I recently called a client who had not paid his bill. He said he did not have the money. Instead of becoming angry, I asked about whether there were any other services or property he might provide to compensate me for the value of my services. After speaking for a while, we realized he had some computer equipment worth twice the value of what I was owed that I needed and that he was not using. I was very pleased with the resolution, and so was he. This potential exists in every conflict. It’s a matter of engaging in a productive dialogue so that what is needed to resolve the situation can be discovered or invented out of the creative potential that surrounds us all the time.

If the two brothers in Chapter 3 had remained narrowly focused on dividing the business, they never would have arrived at the place where their creative talent could benefit them. When they realized things were not working, they had a choice. They could fight about what they thought they had, or they could turn to each other and realize that, through their prior Joint and individual creative efforts, they had reached the top of a mountain. From this vantage point each saw a new summit that he wanted to climb. The new summits were different, but there was no reason not to continue “partnering” with each other.

There is no law that says we both can’t get to the top of the mountain of our dreams. Why hold a position that it must be a particular way. If you are willing to consider a larger universe of potential solutions, you may get much more than you expected.

Abundance: The Creativity of Money

All profit, value, wealth, and accumulation result from the ideas of either one person or of a group of people combining their energy and talent. Think for a moment of a new business, a new team, or a community project that you were once part of. The value of the business, the contribution to the larger organization, or the benefit to the community came from some-place. The hi-tech revolution started as an idea in someone’s mind. The creative energy of many people coming together and the innovations they have designed have made many millionaires, and a few billionaires. The source came from an unlimited supply of abundant potential. Before 1980 the whole domain of cell phones and PCs as personal productivity tools barely existed.

It’s your choice! If you choose the principle of abundance when you come together to resolve a conflict, you can step into a field of enormous potential. It’s not you or me; it’s not us or them… it’s you and me; we and they. No matter the situation, we can all have what we want if we tap into the abundant supply available to all of us. The resolution may look different than our initial expectation. So what? Remember, the glass is half full!

“AND” as the Operative Mindset

Liza and Kathy. Liza and Kathy were partners in a successful consulting and training business. After ten years together they reached a crossroads. The question they faced was whether to hire additional consultants or to retain their current size and select higher-quality projects.

Liza was clear that the best course was selecting bigger clients. She did not want all the headaches of having employees. Kathy was certain about hiring a few more consultants to leverage their existing business. These two intelligent, competent individuals were both sure of their own direction. Each was correct about the right path—for her. But that was not the question. The question was what they should do for the business and for their partnership.

As time passed, Liza and Kathy became resentful of each other’s position. Even though they loved their work and their clients, each was wasting brain space with thoughts of how to manipulate the situation to her advantage. The crisis came to a head when Kathy found out Liza turned down a request to train a multi-division computer manufacturer in their proprietary communication model; it was not a high-quality prospect in Liza’s opinion. Kathy was crazed by Liza’s decision; Liza was unfazed by Kathy’s outrage. Liza believed she had made the right decision. She had, for Liza.

After three days of lost productivity and not speaking to Liza, Kathy called me. I asked her what she wanted. Kathy’s response was typical. She just wanted to put this behind them and get back to work. Liza had the same response when I spoke to her. For both of them the pain was so great that having a particular resolution was not as important as resolution itself. I let them think about that over the weekend and scheduled a meeting for Monday morning.

On Monday I asked if they could live with the fact that they were both right. They said yes, if they could get back to work! I asked them to design the structure of the business they wanted to operate. I asked them to exchange plans and let me know how they would participate in the other’s plan. Then each chose her roles. I asked if there was a reason they couldn’t live with the jobs they had selected in the other’s design. They were OK with their roles. Good, I said. You have worked this out.

What was their plan? Kathy managed the expanded number of consultants, and Liza focused on more senior projects. They both returned to the joy, productivity, and fulfillment that made the partnership great. They did not compromise. Each had her concerns taken care of. This is a good example of how often we step into an either/or mind-set—either you get yours, or I get mine. It is important to remember that if you refuse to see the other person as the enemy and you each engage your creativity, often everyone can have what they want. Seeing the world as abundant, both you and I can have what we want.

Summary

• The Principle of Abundance is the keystone of resolutionary thinking.

• There is no limit to what creativity can produce.

• We can apply the same principles of unlimited creativity to solving problems and resolving conflict as we do to new ventures.

Reflections

• As you look at the remaining nine principles and review all of the case studies and examples, look for the perspective of abundance.

• Notice the situations in your life in which you were conditioned by a perspective of abundance. Did that perspective contribute to the outcome you wanted?

• Think of a current situation where you have not been getting the result you want. Imagine you have all the resources to get the outcome you desire. Is that approach helpful?