Zero Based Thinking For Difficult Decisions

Use Zero Based Thinking To Focus Your Mind On Difficult Decisions

I was listening to a Brian Tracy CD and he talked about an extremely interesting and effective technique to use if you are struggling to make a difficult decision or you face a dilemma.

It's called zero based thinking.

So next time you have a difficult decision, ask yourself

"Knowing what I know now, would I still make the same decision?"

Difficult Decision Example 1 - A Difficult Member of Staff

Imagine if one of your team members is unreliable, performs their job poorly and won't communicate their progress despite many requests for updates.

You have a difficult employment decision. Should you consider firing this person?

So when you apply zero based thinking to this decision you ask yourself:

"Knowing what I know now, would I still recruit this person?"

If your answer is "No", then it is a pretty clear indication that it is time for a parting of the ways.

You can't carry staff that you wouldn't re-employ.

An Example of A Difficult Decision For Employees

I remember one of the biggest lessons in my management career.

I was chief accountant at an engineering company in the West Midlands of the UK and I had a financial accountant who was hopeless.

I revised my expectations and standards of his work downwards and then down again. It seemed the less I expected, the less he achieved.

Finally I had enough and accepted that it couldn't carry on.

I fired him.

I think it was a relief to him and it certainly was to me.

From that moment on I swore that I would never again lower my standards of what I expected from my team.

If the person is not good enough, accept it and move on.

Difficult Decision Example 2 - A Failing Franchise

I have a friend who bought into a franchise and paid a lot of money.

Unfortunately the franchise area wasn't exclusive and had been largely tapped out by the existing franchisee. Relationships were established with the likely prospects and other suspects were just not interested.

The franchisor had undeveloped marketing systems and offered little in the way of lead generation but expected a monthly franchising fee to continue to be paid.

I helped my friend focus on this difficult decision by explaining about zero based thinking.

"Knowing what I know now, would I still buy this franchise?"

Again the answer was "No."

It was barely generating any cash and certainly wasn't providing a return for the time spent or money invested.

While it was a bitter pill, it was time to accept that the franchise fee was gone.

The business opportunity was never there and it had been a bad decision. But it would have been an even worse decision to continue wasting time on this failed franchise and zero based thinking made this clear.

Example 3 - A Professional Association

A few years ago I joined a network of business advisers.

It had seemed a good idea at the time and some of the members were making a lot of money out of it.

But the network was going one way and I was going another and over time we grew further apart.

I still rate the network and despite assurances that they would move back into the middle ground, I faced a difficult decision. Should I continue paying the monthly fees in the hope of future benefits.

So I asked myself the zero based thinking question.

"Knowing what I know now, would I still join this network?"

The answer was "No" so I knew it was time to leave.

OK it cost me money as I certainly never recouped my investment and who knows, perhaps it would have generated future profits.

But I felt so much better when I had faced up to the question and made the decision.

Conclusion

Are you facing a difficult decision?

Are you locked in the horns of a dilemma?

Just try zero based thinking and ask yourself:

"Knowing what I know now, would I..."

Has it helped?

Zero based thinking is a fantastic coaching or self-coaching technique to encourage you to free your mind of the current situation.

It re-frames the issue into a simple black or white answer. And when you've got the answer, you know what to do.

The solution to the difficult decision is then just a question of when and how.

If you would like to know more about Brian Tracy's work and zero based thinking is a core component of his approach then this is a great offer.

Comments

[Louise BJ]

Thanks Paul for that truly powerful question. It can be so easy to stay attached to an idea even when it obviously isn't working.

Zero based thinking will make a lot of difference to me and my business (although I have a feeling it might sometimes be a painful process!)

[Paul Simister, Your Profit Coach]

Hi Louise

Thanks for the comment but really the thanks goes to Brian Tracy.

As I explained in the blog it made me focus on whether I should stay in the business advisory network.

At some time you do have to face up to problem issues and with hindsight, it is often the case that you wish you'd done it sooner.

Difficult decisions are never easy but I find the zero based approach really focuses my mind and helps put a grey, shady subject into black and white.

Knowing what I do know, would I...have started this blog.

You bet I would.

[JohnB]

Hi Paul,

Most of my business education is Jay Abraham focused, haven't had time to explore other authors.

But I have been familiar with Brian Tray's zero based thinking, very powerful. It definitely allows you to get out of things that arent working. Your time is so valuable, you just cant waste it on alot of things that aren't working or that you wouldn't get into again.

[Rodney Burge]

Hey Paul,

As someone who was a four-year participant in Brian Tracy's "Focal Point" Coaching Program, I will say that Brian's "Zero-Based Thinking" philosophy is one of the most critical exercises an entreprenuer can perform. It can (and will) change the course of a persons business and life if practiced on a regular basis.

I have found that the only way a person can take full advantage of their life and business experiences, is to consistently ask (and answer) THE question, "knowing what I now know, would I have make the same decision again?". The only way some situations can get better is to stop doing what you've been doing and start doing what you should be doing.

By the way Paul, this is a great blog.

I'll visit often.

Rodney

[Bob Sherif]

Hi Paul,

I remember that I once listened in one of the audios for Spike Humer that there are only FOUR ways to achieve real measurable success.

First, is to STOP doing what you are doing right now that doesn't bring you any kind of success.

Second, is to START doing what you are not doing right now that will bring you real success.

Third, is to do LESS of what you are doing right now that doesn't bring you any kind of sucess.

Fourth, is to do MORE of what you are doing right now that brings you real success.

I would say that most people prefer the third and fourth categories. It is almost easier for any person to start doing more or less of any thing he/she already does than to start something new or stop something old. Thus in addition to the Zero Based Thinking question for the giant Brian Tracy, it will be very helpful for people to ask themselves,

A- What are the things I need to do LESS of in order to achieve more success?

B- What are the things I need to do MORE of in order to achieve more success?

But still an elite entrepreneur will ask himself/herself:

A- What do I need to START doing right now that will bring myself more and more success?

B- What do I need to STOP doing right now to bring myself more and more success?

I prefer to belong to the elite entrepreneurs club.

What do other folks out there think?

[Paul Simister]

Thanks for this comment Bob and I use the stop, less, more, start model myself.

The big mistake I see is that people think they can do more and start doing things without recognising that they need to create the time and space to do it.

Then they get frustrated because nothing happens or their stress levels shoot up because they move from working 60 hours per week to 80 hours per week and every extra hour has a diminishing return.

While people may not be productively active, we are always doing something, even if it is watching a bad reality TV show on the television.

The zero based thinking technique is terrific for really focusing in on the key issues.

Knowing what I know now would I still...

Life should be one long journey of learning and zero based thinking is a great way to speed up that learning and for facing up to those difficult decisions.