Take No Prisoners is a free weekly memo from Scott Wintrip that explores how Radical Accountability prospers companies and changes lives. Instead of taking people hostage with outdated, heavy-handed, and ineffective methods of management, measurement, and motivation, Radical Accountability focuses on creating an unwavering responsibility for getting what matters most done.

Tennis star Novak Djokovic knows a thing or two about winning and losing. Djokovic won his second Wimbledon tennis title, beating seven-time champion Roger Federer, and moving past Rafael Nadal to reclaim the No. 1 spot in the world ranking. In interviews after his win, he acknowledged that his string of previous losses had gotten to him, effecting him mentally. Yet, being down didn’t mean he was permanently out, as he proved with this win.

The same is true for every corporate team and every individual business player, yet, many people often get stuck in a down and out mentality. Even the very best employees have moments of discouragement, or even despair, that they can’t seem to shake.

Persistent thoughts become pervasive beliefs, and some of these reek of inaccurate assumptions and dangerous misinformation. That’s why I’ve often thought it would be useful if humans had a reset button behind one ear to reboot our brains. With one press, we could start over, interrupting thoughts, words, or actions that are counterproductive or even harmful.

Since we don’t come equipped from the factory with such a device, I offer the following aftermarket alternative. When team members are stuck in a down and out mindset, offer one of these four options:

• Reboot… when a solid plan was in place, but wasn’t followed. A reboot allows for a fresh chance to work the plan from beginning to end.
• Reset… when parts of the plan weren’t followed, requiring only a reset on those portions of the plan. Without having to completely start over, momentum continues as the missing elements are integrated into the working plan.
• Reconfigure… when the plan was worked correctly, consistently, and completely, but the result was not meeting expectations. Without having to rewrite the plan, only the elements that were contributing to the issue need to be reconfigured.
• Redesign… if there was no plan and, no surprise, nothing good has come of that. Redesign allows for learning from this oversight, creating a plan for moving forward based upon what was learned in the process.

Feeling down is a great opportunity to keep what works and change or leave behind the rest. Reboot, Reset, Reconfigure, Redesign allows people to transform problems into opportunities that create better results.

This Week’s Radical Accountability Activating Action: Teach your team Reboot, Reset, Reconfigure, and Redesigned. And use it yourself, as you’ll benefit from this process and teach from a place of having walked the talk.