…and a good outcome doesn’t mean we did the right thing.
Conflating our decisions and our outcomes is a dangerous game as it can lead us to make terrible choices.
In the words or Gary Karsparov: “Losing can persuade you to change what doesn’t need to be changed and winning can convince you everything is fine, even when you’re on the brink of disaster.”
When we lose, we should evaluate our position, but not necessarily change direction. After all, something that works 90% of the time will still fail every now and then, and that failure shouldn’t anchor our thinking.
After we win, we should do the same. Did we do the right thing, or did we get lucky?
The key to understanding the relationship between our actions and outcomes is deep and honest reflection.
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