I hate losing! Like most of us I prefer it when things go my way. I still have a vague memory of leaving a sports field in tears when we lost to another school by what I think was a single point. I also remember my very first inter schools athletics meeting in my first year of high school. All the new kids were called by the prefects for a meeting prior to the event and informed that no matter what…we simply will win the event. A veiled but effective threat where the consequences of failure were very clearly articulated. Trembling in our shoes, motivated by fear and adrenalin we actually did win the event.
I experience in my career and my life today situations and people who epitomise the mindset of playing not to lose. Those situations where the implemented plan of action is just passive and sometimes actually very weak. Where our mindset is that of damage control. Of preventing loss and protecting what we have. It’s incredibly frustrating and typically happens when we feel cornered and under pressure. Where we don’t have the momentum and have a to please a specific stakeholder. Usually this stakeholder is a big important client or customer, but not always.
Contrast this with many companies that go out every day and play to win. Where their competitors are better resourced, market conditions are not perfect and they have little bargaining power. Like the 70-something year old sole proprietor electrician I know who is struggling to retire because very big factories in the area only trust him and him alone. He is so good that much larger competitors have failed for years to displace him.
Like the many asset managers in South Africa that have pushed the agenda of low cost passive investment and taken on extremely large, well resourced competitors and won. Like Tinashe Nyamudoka, Joseph Dhafana, Marlvin Gwese and Pardon Taguzu the Zimbabwean sommeliers who competed at the World Blind Wine Tasting Championships and came 14th out of 24 countries. Beating many countries with significantly better resources and wine heritage than Zimbabwe. Like the 1995, 2007 and 2019 Springboks who won the Rugby World Cup.
If winning feels so good then why do we often play it safe? Why do we want to focus on not coming last versus focussing on winning the race? Why do we settle for good enough rather than pushing for the best? Why do we settle for the unfair rules of a large customer, rather than building our own empire of customers who actually respect us? Why settle for the good enough senior management job when you know you want to be a CEO?
We need to stop trying not to lose and try to actually win. To stop playing defence and take some shots at goal. Today’s challenge is to just take time out and listen to your heart. Recognise when you inner voice has stopped shooting any shots. Where your single minded focus is keeping your head above water, rather than actually winning a swimming race.
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