The Roads to Nothing or Zero

For most of the history of civilization, humankind has been devoid of, arguably, the most important number in the universe. It possesses the power of infinity and it is immeasurable or elusive, sometimes. But this number became the invisible fulcrum that redefined how we now weigh matters and many decisions in our world. That number is zero. In fact, the concept of zero did not reach Western Europe until the 12^th century AD. It is a relative newcomer to math.  Some debate exists as to where it originated, but, about the same time, both the Babylonians (circa 3^rd century BC) and the Mesoamericans, or Mayans, (circa 4^th century BC) appear to have discovered, applied, and documented zero. With it came lots of what we need today in a digital world, as well as negative, imaginary, and other numbers at play today.

Zero is interesting since, strictly speaking, there is nothing that actually is nothing. Just because we can’t see it or have the means to measure or detect it, doesn’t mean it isn’t there. Zero seems like a simple concept, in retrospect, but we often don’t believe that it can exist. Over the years, I’ve encountered incredible walls to surmount in discussions about getting to zero. Stay with me just a little longer.

Zero is, in fact, achievable when we put some tangible qualifiers, like money, patent leather shoes, polio, or Betamax tapes. Those are easy … there are two types of zero that are often hard to conceive, believe, or achieve in the workplace. They are zero defects and zero harm. It’s not because they are impossible or improbable, but because we might be one of those who believe that people are just not good enough to be able to do it. Yet, we can immediately reach zero when conceiving whether or not we can be capable of zero defects or zero harm. In other words, “I have zero chance of achieving zero because, just because.”  We can accept some degree, perhaps small, or level of the undesirable as “that’s the way it is,” or “it’s never been done before,” or “we tried that once and failed,” or “whenever you have people working, some things are just unavoidable.” We may have paradigms of acceptability that blind us to possibilities.

Yet, some do achieve zero. Can they sustain zero? Perhaps it is achievable with focus, discipline, and follow-through.   Is it worth it? What are the consequences of defects and harm? What do our values say about what we can tolerate a little and what we consider intolerable?

So, where is zero in our paradigms? Is it achievable? I’ve heard from some wearing the yoke of unhealthy practices, be they smoking, alcoholism, or too many supersized heart stoppers with a side of fries, that they believe that the chances of getting to zero are so small, that trying is just a waste of time. What would we say to them if they are dear ones?

What if our processes were wearing the yoke of unhealthy practices? Is trying just a waste of time? If our product or service creates failure for our customer, would we say, “that’s the way it is,” or “it’s never been done before,” or “we tried that once and failed,” or “whenever you have people working, some things are just unavoidable?” Would we say the same to the family of someone who was hurt or destroyed in our workplace?

So, should we take the road to zero? Consider where the road to nothing goes.

Thoughts?