Zero-based Thinking

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Historian Arnold J. Toynbee said, “If you cling to past success experiences, you will fail.” Alvin Toffler, a global futurist, warned: “To survive in the future, we must regard our past success as the most dangerous factor.” That is why we must throw away these opinions: “When I did it this way, I was successful,” “This is the best,” or “My experience is the best way.”

Experience is a precious asset for sure. However, if we have blind faith in our own experience and knowledge, we can be betrayed by it, because time doesn’t stay in the past, and the world is constantly changing. So what we need is zero-based thinking. It means to think outside of the box, on a blank paper, that is, in zero state. In order to have zero-based thinking, we must have an open mind: ‘I might be wrong,’ ‘What I don’t know is more than what I know,’ or ‘The answer can be found outside, not in me.’

Just as we can draw a new picture on a white paper that has nothing on it, if we empty our mind, new ideas can sprout in us.