Failure is Feedback: Reframing Setbacks for Growth

Failure isn’t a question in sport. It’s a certainty. We all face it. We all feel it. The true measure isn’t the failure itself - it’s how we respond to it. And that response can shape our performance, mindset and legacy.

Amy Edmondson, a leader in understanding failure within complex systems, breaks it down into three types:

• Preventable: The errors we make when we fail to follow our best practices or prepare fully.
• Complex: The unpredictable failures that arise in the midst of tough competition or ever-changing conditions.
• Intellectual: The failures we face when we step outside our comfort zones, testing new boundaries and strategies.

As athletes, we experience failure across three zones:

1. Self: Did I prepare fully? Did I execute with focus and intention? This reflects preventable failures - mistakes we can control through better preparation.
2. Situation: Was this a moment of bad luck, a tough opponent or unexpected conditions? These are complex failures, the ones we can’t always predict or control but can adapt to.
3. System: Was the system in place to support success? Were team strategies, coaching and external factors aligned? These are systemic failures, where the broader environment influences the outcome.

But here’s the kicker - how we perceive failure determines how it impacts us.

If we view failure as information, it becomes feedback we can use to grow. Here’s how it works in two stages:

1. Immediacy: In the heat of the moment, we focus on the lesson. We don’t panic or retreat. Instead, we ask, What can I learn from this failure right now? We make quick adjustments, refocus and execute better moving forward. This is the critical moment where we gain clarity and adapt.
2. Legacy: Over time, those moments of failure compound into growth. We build resilience, confidence and wisdom. We embrace the lessons learned, and failure no longer defines us - it refines us.

On the other hand, when we view failure as part of our identity, it has a different effect. We internalise it. We believe the mistake is us. In the moment (immediacy), we spiral into self-doubt, questioning our ability and our worth. Over time (legacy), this mindset limits our potential. We get stuck, unable to push through or innovate because we’re afraid of failing again.

The choice is ours: Will we see failure as a information or identity?

To borrow from Viktor Frankl, between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.

We are not defined by our successes or our failures; we’re defined by our response to them – our relationship with them. When failure is viewed as feedback - information rather than identity - it becomes the catalyst for growth, resilience and sustained high performance.

So next time you fail - and you will - ask yourself:

• What can I learn from this right now? (Immediacy)
• How will I grow from this in the future? (Legacy)