Ep 97 | Multiplicative Systems & How They Affect Your Business w/ Brian Gubernick

Hey there, it's Kaitlyn from No Days Off. We want to take a moment to thank you for joining us on the No Days Off movement. It has been such an honor and so much fun to see so many people committed to getting better at their businesses, relationships, health, lives, and so much more. As we are approaching our 100th episode, Brian and I are excited to announce our very first giveaway. To enter the giveaway, all you need to do is leave us a review wherever you listen to the No Days Off podcast. And if you've left us a review in the past, you can still be entered to win. Simply send us a screenshot of your review to our Instagram @nodaysoffpodcast. The lucky winner will receive a pair of Beats Bluetooth headphones, and we will announce our winner on August 23rd. We will share these details in the show notes as well. Don't forget to share this episode with others and let's continue to grow the No Days Off movement. Enjoy the episode.

Thank you for joining me today. It's Brian Gubernick and welcome to the No Days Off podcast, where we believe that every single day brings a new opportunity to get better. Let's dive into today's topic. Today, we're going to be talking about my new favorite mental model, one that I've been talking around nonstop, at least for the past couple of weeks. If you've been hanging out with me in the office, I've probably annoyed the heck out of you because I've been talking about multiplicative systems, multiplicative systems, the root word here being multiply. And what that's all about, what the system is all about, is understanding the power of multiplying by zero. Early in our elementary school careers, we all learned that multiplying anything by zero is in fact zero. This math concept though is very applicable outside of the classroom, outside of, of math. And it can be applied throughout all of life and business. Let's demonstrate some here. Let's talk about zero. Okay. I'll run through some little, uh, a little example of elementary algebra. Okay. Do this in your head. Take 972,455. Multiply that by 7,211. Multiply that by 4.42. Now multiply that by zero. What do you have? Now clearly that's a pretty silly joke, but the point here is I gave you a number of complex numbers to do in your head, but when I said multiply by zero The answer immediately became clear. You didn't have to whip out the calculator. The answer is in fact zero. This is what leads us to the mental model called the Multiplicative System, and understanding it can get to the heart of a lot of issues in the real world, in the business world, and in life. I'm going to give you a real-world example. This comes from a blog written, uh, by a company known as Farnam, Farnam Street Media. Actually, they've got a great blog and they talk a little bit about the multiplicative system. And within that blog, it gives a great example and it outlines this. Suppose you're trying to become the best basketball player in the world. You've got a few things going for you. You've got amazing talent, God-given talent. You're tall, you're 6'9", 6'10". You're fast. You're skillful. You could jump. You're the best player everywhere you go for as long as you can remember. In addition to having this talent, you've got amazing support. You've got a city that's behind you, a city that loves basketball. You've got parents who support you, who care about your goals and help you, help you achieve them. You've got a proven track record. You were the Player of the Year in every level of basketball you've played, most recently in the conference that you played in, in Division I basketball, the highest level of college basketball. You also have a very clear path forward. As a matter of fact, you're selected very high in the NBA draft by the Boston Celtics. You were the number 2 pick of the draft that year, 1986. Now again, remember, God-given talent. You've got support. You've got a track record. You've got clear path forward. If I stop right now, sounds like you're the next Hall of Famer. But let's add one more piece of info. Let's say you've developed a cocaine habit. Now, what are your odds of making it? See what I just went through, that exercise right there, it's an unfortunate case of a guy who many listening may remember. His name is Len Bias. He's probably the greatest basketball player to never play professionally. Why? Because unfortunately for Len Bias, he died of a cocaine overdose after being selected to play in the NBA by the Celtics in '86. See, what this story demonstrates is that No matter how great all of these, how high all these other variables seem to be, anytime anything you multiply by zero, anytime you multiply by zero, the answer still must be zero. No matter how large the string of numbers before it. Some facets of life, all the hard work, all the dedication to improvement, all the good fortune, may still be worth absolutely nothing if there's a weak link in the chain. Now, some systems are, in fact, additive. They're not multiplicative. Additive— I'll give you a real fast example. That would be like Thanksgiving dinner. Thanksgiving dinner's got turkey, potatoes, stuffing, cranberries, string beans, pie, family. I mean, you name it, there's lots of components. Now let's say you burn the beans. Let's say you overcooked the, even the turkey. Would that potentially destroy all of Thanksgiving? It's not likely it does. As a matter of fact, it might make for good stories or a funny joke. There are very few components, if any components of that meal that can destroy or ruin anything. All it does is slide the scale from good to great, from those two very, those two ends of the spectrum, good to great. The only thing that would be multiplicative, in my opinion, is if there was a family blowup. But 99.9% of the time, if something goes wrong on that Thanksgiving table, you just throw it out, move on, and everybody has a fantastic time. That's an additive system. Additive systems do not work the way multiplicative systems work. In an additive system, each component adds on to one another to create the final outcome. But it's not multiplicative. Instead, it's plus. So if I went back to that same math equation earlier, I would have said plus instead of times. So you would have had a plus 0, which would have no impact on the output. Still a pretty big number, not 0. Now, as I'm explaining, you're like, Brian, where the hell are you going with this? Well, here's the thing. In business, we have a tendency to think that we operate in an additive system. But the reality is the vast majority of businesses, they actually operate in a multiplicative system. Too often we think we're in an additive one, which is why some businesses will add a feature on top of a feature on top of a feature and improve a product, but then they fail at like, uh, customer service And so you as the client, you as the customer, never come back. And so that customer service, that negative customer service, was in fact the zero. If this was additive, a bad customer service experience wouldn't have stopped you from coming back. But because it was bad enough, even though that product may be great, that's a multiplicative system, and that's a zero. And that brings you as the customer to the decision that you can't go back. So if you think you're in an additive system, right, then you think that you can resolve things or, or maybe create, uh, an answer that pacifies or, or gets by. But in a multiplicative system, a zero is a zero is a zero. So here's where I'm going as I'm explaining this here. If you're running a business, as most everybody listening here today is. Whether you're running a big business, uh, and let's say there are those working under you in that business, or if you're part of somebody else's world, you are still likely running your own business within the business. No matter how you spin it, I would challenge you to look at your business from A to Z, from start to finish, from lead to closing, and ask yourself As you look through each of the components of that business, of that workflow, are there anything, any items in there, any components that are in fact close to or at zero? And if in fact that does exist, can you see how that is impacting or even drawing you down to zero? See, you can't have a great product and a zero in customer service. You can't have an amazing customer service team but a zero product. If you're a restaurant and you have amazing food but an absolute zero in service, no one's coming to see you after the first meal. And if you have the best service known to man but terrible food, no one's coming to see you after that first meal. That's multiplicative. So the focusing question for you today is as you break down your business component by component, can you identify the zeros? And if in fact you can identify the zero, what can you do starting today to improve that number, to increase that number even to a tenth of a point, a two-tenths of a point, three-tenths? It doesn't matter. Getting it above zero at least gives you some output. Now, naturally you want to get well above that. In the perfect multiplica— Multiplicative System, you want to be at least at a 1, right? Because anything multiplied by 1 is going to be the same value. You want to at least be at a 1 where it doesn't necessarily draw you down. It just may not draw you up. And ideally you're getting above a 1. You follow what I'm saying? So if you're using the Multiplicative System, anything above 1 is going to increase the output. Anything below 1 is going to decrease the output. And if you're at 0, anything multiplied by 0 is in fact 0. So think around this system, think about where you have zeros, and think about the action steps you can take today to, to, to change the course, change the trajectory, and get this thing moving towards where it needs to go. That's all we have today, the No Days Off Podcast. Thank you so much for listening. And remember, every single day brings a new opportunity to get better, so let's get after it.