Add a Zero

Brian Chesky has a practice at Airbnb: when someone presents a goal, he asks 'How do we 10X this?' He calls it 'add a zero.'

This sounds aggressive. Unrealistic. But here's what it actually does: it forces people to think differently about the problem. You can't just work harder to 10X something - you have to rethink the whole approach.

But the deeper lesson comes from basketball coach John Wooden. Someone asked his secret to being the winningest coach in college basketball. He said: 'I just asked my players to do their very best.'

That sounds simple. But Chesky caught what Wooden didn't say explicitly: he saw potential in people that they never saw in themselves.

This is the role of a parent.

When you push your child, you're not saying 'what you did isn't good enough.' You're saying 'I believe you have more in you than you're showing me.' That's a fundamentally different message.

Chesky asks: 'If their life depended on it, could they do it?' If yes, then the gap isn't ability - it's motivation or belief.

Your child will rise or fall to the expectations you hold for them. Not the ones you say out loud, but the ones they feel from you. Add a zero to what you believe they're capable of. Then help them see it too.