Add a Zero (10x First-Principles Reframing)
Force a 10x version of the goal so the team must rethink the problem from first principles, not optimize the current process.
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~weeks to results
- Steps
- 3
- Confidence
- 90%
A goal-setting and problem-solving move: imagine the target an order of magnitude bigger, better, or faster. At 10x you can't reach the goal by tuning the current process, so you're forced to break the problem into components and rebuild — first-principles thinking. The point is not to literally demand the 10x number but to change how people understand the problem.
Origin
Brian Chesky's 'add a zero' saying at Airbnb, linked to first-principles thinking and illustrated with basketball coach John Wooden ('do their very best' plus seeing unseen potential) and Andy Grove's competency-vs-motivation distinction.
Core principles
- 01The exercise is to imagine 10x bigger/better/faster, not to literally mandate the 10x number.
- 02At 10x the current process can't get you there, so you must think differently about the problem.
- 03Thinking differently forces deep understanding, which forces breaking the problem into its foundational components.
- 04A leader's job is to see potential in people they don't see in themselves; pushing signals belief, not disappointment.
- 05Whether pushing demoralizes or elevates depends on fixed vs growth mindset in the org.
How to run it
- 1
Add a zero to the goal
Take the team's stated goal and conceptually multiply it by ten — 10x bigger, 10x better, or 10x faster — as a thought exercise.
Pro tip You don't always need 10x; sometimes just doubling the goal is enough to unstick thinking.
Watch out Don't wield it as 'I added a zero, now hit it or you failed' — that triggers a fixed-mindset, demoralized response.
- 2
Break the problem into first principles
Because the old process can't deliver 10x, decompose the problem into its foundational elements and ask how to construct a solution from them.
- 3
Frame the push as belief
When telling someone the work isn't good enough, make clear you mean they have more potential than they're showing — see potential they don't see in themselves, like a coach.
Pro tip Gauge whether a team can do better by asking: if it were a defining, crisis-level moment, could they do it? Motivation, not just competency, unlocks the gap.
Watch out Don't make it feel life-or-death; that's too far. Build motivation instead.
In the wild
In meetings Chesky routinely asked teams 'how do we 10x this?' or 'what would it take to 10x this idea?' Lenny recounts that teams often hit these crazy goals after Chesky added a zero, or at least doubled them.
→ Teams reconceived problems and repeatedly hit goals they would not have set for themselves.
Asked his secret to success, Wooden said he just asked his players to do their very best — which sounded trivial to Chesky until he realized the implicit part: Wooden saw potential in players they never saw in themselves.
→ Chesky adopted 'see unseen potential' as the core of how a leader pushes a team.
Common mistakes
Optimizing instead of reframing
Treating an ambitious goal as more of the same effort ('running the ball down the field') rather than a prompt to rethink the problem yields small, incremental gains.
Pushing a fixed-mindset team without belief
If people read 'not good enough' as 'you're not good enough' rather than 'you have more in you,' the push demoralizes instead of elevating.
Is it for you?
Best for
Founders and team leaders setting goals who want breakthrough thinking and are building a growth-mindset culture.
Not ideal for
Teams with a fixed mindset or low psychological safety where a 10x demand will read as an impossible mandate and crush morale.
From the transcript
“there was a saying inside of Airbnb, it was add a zero. Add a zero at the end, which is to make to imagine something…”
“one of the best ways to get unstuck from a problem is to imagine a 10x scale or 10x better or 10x faster where you…”
“the role of a leader is to see potential in people that they may not even see themselves.”
“when I tell somebody it's not good enough, either I'm saying you're not good enough or I believe that you have more potential than you're…”
From the episode
Brian Chesky’s new playbook