Thank you for sharing these thoughts, Thomas.

I think there are pros and cons of this technique. First, decisions in the past are made on the information available at the time point. People often are asking, “why did you not do this and this?”. Well, in the future, we all are wiser. Second, we also do not know what has happened if we had done something else. Would have it been better? Or even worse? Third, with that sort of thinking, you will feel guilty. Guilty, not having chosen another option. And this feeling is least helpful to make progress in your development.

ZBT is an excellent method to think about that from a learning perspective: what can I learn from that? What should I change next time in such a situation? How can I approach a similar situation differently?

Applied in that way is a precious technique.

I am personally are not a fan of changing behaviors based on the past. These behaviors will only adapt to past situations. And we all know that the past is always a bad predictor for the future.

Behaviors should be change based on the anticipated future. And the fundamentals are the same as in ZBT. First, become clear about what do you want to do and what do you need in the future. In 3 years? In 5 years? In 10 years? In 25 years? Then, trace it back to today.

Where would you have to start today, greenfield, without any prior assumption, to reach that goal?

This thinking also starts with the question of how I would decide if the prior assumptions or journeys would not have happened. But it does not neglect your learning.