Community Lessons: Recognition and Zero Sum Thinking

Hi, everyone!

We will soon be rolling out the Spotlight Program where we celebrate and recognize members, listeners, and leaders on a regular basis. In talking about this, we became aware of a concern that a few people might become frustrated that others are being celebrated and they are not. We wanted to take a minute to unpack how this thinking is helpful for some environments, but less helpful on 7 Cups.

Zero-sum thinking is essentially thinking that things are limited. The common example here is a pie. If you have 8 people and 8 slices of pie, then each person - ideally - should get one piece of pie. If, however, you have a person that takes 4 pieces of pie, then they are getting more than their fair share at the expense of others. This is a natural impulse and is the default way of thinking in most humans because our ancestors were in environments where there was not enough to go around. There was limited food for example and if one individual or group had more resources then others would have less.

We now live in an environment where zero-sum thinking can be less helpful in certain domains. For example, think about smarts or intelligence. You being smart does not take away from me being smart. In fact, you being wayyyy smarter than me does nothing to my own intelligence, because intelligence is not a limited pie that we all have to share. Collective intelligence doesnt really end. Another common example is people that are attractive or good looking. You being attractive does not take away from my level of attraction. Another example here might be talent. I cant sing or play an instrument to save my life, but your musical talent does not negatively impact me in the least.

What does this have to do with recognizing people on 7 Cups?

Recognition, celebration, championing, and highlighting others is not limited - it is endless! It is the opposite of a pie. You can celebrate others and then there is more celebratory energy in the air so even more people get championed. The recognition pie in act grows bigger!

We wanted to share this thinking with you all in case there were concerns about some people being recognized. We in this community have an abundance of compassion, love, and recognition. The more we lift up others and celebrate them, the bigger our collective pie becomes.

Hope this is helpful!