What kind of scarcity do you create?

In the 1400’s, being a Scribe meant you had a rare skill–you could read and write–skills that only a fraction of the population possessed. Often, scrolls and manuscripts would decay, be misplaced or be destroyed; creating more scarcity. Being a Scribe was a lucrative profession.

Until one day, it wasn’t.

When Johannes Gutenberg invented the Printing Press, he transformed the way we duplicate information and provided new access to literature for the masses. You could now copy a book faster than you could read it. The skills that Scribes possessed were no longer a valuable commodity.

Fast forward 600 years to today, are the skills you possess scarce?

If so, how long is it before they become commodities?

How long before they are no longer valuable?

The world of commodities is shrinking. Fast. It is no longer good enough to have a competent skill. Because the world continues to change. Progress continues to step forward.

If you are going to insist that the world stays the same for your livelihood, you are going to be left behind with the Scribes. The few that could see the Printing Press as an opportunity to create a new scarcity flourished.

The question is no longer, What kind of scarcity do I rely on? But rather, What kind of scarcity do I create?