When You Lose, Learn Like You’ve Won

Think about how you learn after a success or win. The focus is typically on how to replicate what went right and then to fix any missteps that happened along the way. 

After a success, we don’t beat ourselves up over errors. Instead, we take our time and reflect on what occurred, trying to discern what contributed to our success and how to repeat it in the future. We gather insights about what worked well and seek out others who might offer a perspective on how we can build on our success. Most importantly, we set new goals immediately after success, challenging ourselves to do even better.

Most leaders take a very different approach to learning after a loss or setback. When we, or the team, perform poorly, our tendency is to focus on mistakes and how to fix them. We set our sights on how to improve and seek insight into how we can better prepare and perform masterfully. We engage in deep analysis, looking for patterns or lessons we can build on. We don’t waste any time. We get to work immediately so the chances of another loss or defeat are minimized. 

What would happen if we flipped those scripts? 

Some of the best leaders and coaches do exactly that. They learn like they’ve won after a loss, and they review like they’ve lost after a win.  Good leaders learn equally from wins and losses. They don’t fall into the trap of following the standard script for what or how to learn after positive or negative outcomes. 

After a loss, defeat or setback, teams need to regain their confidence. Learning like most teams do after a rousing victory accomplishes that. Good leaders understand the need for reflection and perspective after poor performance with an eye toward building on something good that happened. 

There is always time to focus on improvement and what needs to be fixed. But asking the team to learn as if they had performed well creates the momentum and acceptance to address issues without resistance. 

Similarly, the biggest drawback after success is complacency. Team members feel elated and proud of what they have achieved. Focusing on mistakes and errors seems like an unnecessary exercise. Yet, such a focus is what allows teams to excel consistently over time. Learning like the team has lost after a victory promotes the actions essential for long-term success. 

Sometimes, flipping the script is the best thing leaders can do. Victory and defeat both offer amazing lessons for those who want to learn from them. Swapping the approach we normally take to learning after each can sometimes produce startling results.