Brian Tracy explains zero-based thinking: regularly ask yourself, "Knowing what I now know, would I start this again?" Apply it to your products, processes, expenses, customers, and people. Cut the 80% that doesn't matter and focus on what drives results.
The most important quality for business Success in the 21st century is flexibility. With the explosion in knowledge and technology combined with a rapid growth of determined competition both nationally and internationally, products, services, markets, processes and customers are changing at a more rapid rate today than ever before. You have to be flexible in the face of this rapid and ceaseless change to maintain your mental health and much less survive and thrive economically. Perhaps the most important tool that you can use to remain flexible and adaptable in turbulent times and to deal with the inevitable crunch points that will befall you is what I call zero based thinking. I teach this to executives all over the world and sometimes they say it transforms their business. In zero based thinking, you stop and stand back and you look at your business objectively as though you were an outsider or a consultant looking in. You then ask this question. Is there anything that I am doing today that, knowing what I now know, I wouldn't get into again today if I was starting it up again today? Discipline yourself to ask and answer this question honestly on a regular basis. It takes tremendous courage to confront the reality of your current situation by testing this by asking the quinc Knowing what I now know Question about everything that you are doing. Is there any activity or business process or product or service that, knowing what you now know, you wouldn't start up again today? Is there any expense or method or procedure in the operations of your business that, knowing what you now know, you wouldn't start again today? Are there any people in your business, customers, staff, employees, anyone who you would not hire back again today? Knowing what you now know? Look at every one of the people who work with you. If they walked in today to apply for their current job, knowing what you now know, would you hire them for that job? Would you pay them what you're paying them? This is a great question. Is there anyone in your business that you would not promote or assign or give a particular responsibility to? Again, knowing what you now know, Another way to determine where you can cut your losses is to imagine that you arrived at work one morning only to find that your entire business had burned to the ground. Fortunately, your staff was safe and standing around in the parking lot watching the building as it was consumed in flames. As it turned out, there are offices available across the street that you could move into immediately and restart your business. What would you do differently? If ever you would downsize or discontinue or eliminate anything or anyone to save your business, you should do it immediately. If you were going to walk across the street and start your business over again, what would you start up immediately? What would you not start up again? What customers would you contact and what customers would you forget about? And finally, which of your staff would you take from the parking lot into your new business and which ones would you leave? So don't delay, cut off, reduce all non essential expenses and eliminate all non essential activities as soon as you can. Exactly as if you were starting over. Get back to basics. Focus on the 20% of your products and services and people that account for 80% or more of your results. I hope you enjoyed this video. If you did, please subscribe to my channel by clicking on the button that appears on the screen. Remember, you can never learn too much about becoming successful in our fast paced world.
