Learning From Loss, And The Value of Teachable Moments

I love learning from coaches and one of the biggest areas most talk about…but most in business hate to…is learning from loss. No matter who you are in the zero sum game of sport, you will lose probably more than you win, and while we dwell on the big moments…everyone’s fans are the best, our nation is better than your nation…the reality is that the agony of defeat and the fear of losing is sometimes a bigger motivator  than what happens at the top.

How will the Spurs reconfigure after the loss to the Knicks? What’s it going to be like for Argentina next World Cup cycle? The public loss makes for great discussion, but what’s done behind the doors to learn from that is really how we improve.

In recent weeks we have seen any number of losses on the business side…the issues with the WNBA away from the court, LIV Golf’s very public challenges, the issues with Mark Walter’s investments potentially, and the short sighted self inflicted issues with Good Good Golf.

While they all make for great clickbait, what is more interesting to me is what lies ahead, and how those inside are learning from some very public miscues.

This week Ian O’Connor at The Athletic looked at the WNBA challenges, and asked me for some thoughts, having worked with women’s properties like the NWSL and the WTA amongst others.

One of the biggest internal learning should come from these teachable moments, and how, like any coach, any team, and brand, we are not afraid to look at the mistakes learn from them and use them to grow, no matter how embarrassing or how short sighted they may seem. The Gist actually had a good look at the Good Good Golf issues and what could be teachable learnings from this week.

A lot of that learning can be lead…and should be lead…by someone who is a trusted source, someone who has a different perspective…maybe a bigger perspective…who can help guide and lay out a path for success. It can get emotional, tense, troublesome, but that person should be the one behind the door helping move things towards healing.

Every major issue in professional sports in North America has been overcome when everyone in the league is on the same page. The goal shouldn’t be to never have any controversy because that’s not possible. The goal is to use these moments as teachable points.

How does an organization move ahead at the right time. Here are some points that my friend Q. Williams has used in business. Each point leads to the other, but it starts with listening…internally and externally.

Q’s points are clear for his “Recipe for Reconciliation:”

Listening

Learning

Acknowledging

Take Action

Build trust

Get to healing

Reconcile

However, it all starts with what he calls “beautiful listening:” Being able to be vulnerable enough to try and understand pain; be open minded and humble and use that vulnerability as a pillar of courage to invoke change. The change is not just for people of color either…it applies to anyone who is not like “us” and it is not easy, but it is a roadmap to change…and with that change all can grow.

But it begins with listening. Two ears, one mouth, as grandpa taught me and Q has always preached.

Personally, I hope the troubles we have seen recently find the teachable moments, because each of these…and other business…have people at their core…many of whom are innocent victims of management decisions. That’s the challenge with any team, league, brands, business, those who can be pushed to the curb who had nothing to do with the mistakes from above.

One question a colleague asked me this week was about insurmountable odds, and certainly some of the issues with the companies mentioned may be insurmountable for at least leadership. Regardless, the learning and the teachable moments have to play into the plan, because without them we make the same mistakes, and although we love the rebound from loss and the comeback, we are less forgiving when it happens again and nothing was learned.

Let’s see how each of these businesses plot the way forward, the emergence with the right plan can sometimes be sweeter than the initial wins.