Zero-Based Thinking: Restart the Company Every Year

"Reorg could not be more simple. Because the company’s produc- tive assets are people, not machinery, CA’s only constraint in reinventing the system to use them most effectively is the cur- rent product base, which must still be sold and supported. Charles calls this “zero-based thinking,” as against zero-based budgeting. The latter assumes the corporation is already doing the right thing, while the former determines what the corpora- tion should be doing and only then begins to allocate resources. Zero-based thinking is actually start-up thinking, but with none of the constraints: a functioning company is already in place, replete with product line, established clientele, dependable sup- pliers, to say nothing of solid credit, positive cash flow, money in the bank, and trustworthy personnel. So why change it?"

"In fact, Wang seemed to run the company by whim, so that at least once a year he would reorganize it from top to bottom. The rumor was he did it every month. By himself. Just like that."

"he lists his assets: people. Charles: “What I do is write my priorities. Let’s say I redo a development area. I start off by saying I have nothing. What’s my most important product, what’s my strategy in this area? I always ask myself, Why are we marketing this product? We have a sort product, CA-Sort. Why does one use a sorting product? And I'll start to ask the questions, go through the process: ‘OK, why do we do this? Is there a future to this?’ Maybe we shouldn't be investing as much into it. Or what is the optimum we can invest? What do we have to do next year, guys, to keep the sorting market just the way it is, assuming no new sales? What would it take to do that? You say, “Half-time one person will do fine.’ OK,"