Failure or Success? Who Decides?

By Daniel A. Schroeder, Ph.D.

The Milwaukee Bucks, the NBA team with the best regular season record for 2022-2023, the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, the prohibitive betting favorite to win the NBA Championship, and my hometown team, were soundly and unceremoniously dismissed from the playoffs earlier this week by the Miami Heat, a "play-in" team who barely qualified for the post-season.

In the post-game press conference after the season-ending loss in game five of the playoff series with the Heat, Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Bucks' all-world superstar, took umbrage when a reporter characterized the Bucks' season as a "failure" because of the early playoff exit.

Here is a snippet of that interview:

Subsequently, Giannis took some heat for his comments. Was he kidding? Was he in denial? Was he ashamed to admit the truth? Was he dreaming?

In this article, I will defend the comments Giannis made. In doing so, I will try to place them in some degree of broader context, at least in terms of what I think he was trying to suggest in his post-game remarks. Along the way, I will draw upon some insights/perspectives from a number of noteworthy individuals to support my position.

First, let me note, for the record, that the Bucks' season fizzled in the first round of the playoffs is, indeed, tremendoualy disappointing. That they did not bring home a championship is very frustrating. But, to call their season a "failure" is an overstatement. A "gut punch" . . . sure. A "failure" . . . no, I don't agree with that characterization.

Think about what the Bucks accomplished this year, the achievements they had. Giannis was probably mindful of those elements as he made his comments. The Bucks made the playoffs again, this time as a No. 1 seed, after posting the best record in the Eastern Conference and in the entire NBA. They did so while overcoming injuries that kept key players on the sidelines for extended periods of time. Their 16 game winning streak was the longest in the league this year. There are other highlights I could offer, but, you get the point. A lot of really positive things happened this year.

Now, to offer some support for my position that the Bucks' season was not a failure, let me share some insights from individuals whom no one could accurately describe as "failures." Yet, to be certain, as the record so clearly shows, each of them confronted signficant obstacles, setbacks, and hurdles during their lives:

• “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” —Thomas Edison
• “A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.” —Albert Einstein
• “Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.” —Winston Churchill
• “A person who doubts himself is like a man who would enlist in the ranks of his enemies and bear arms against himself. He makes his failure certain by himself being the first person to be convinced of it.” —Alexandre Dumas
• “Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit.” —Napoleon Hill
• “You build on failure. You use it as a steppingstone. Close the door on the past. You don’t try to forget the mistakes, but you don’t dwell on it. You don’t let it have any of your energy, or any of your time, or any of your space.” —Johnny Cash
• “It’s not how far you fall, but how high you bounce that counts.” —Zig Ziglar
• “Everything you want is on the other side of fear.” —Jack Canfield
• “Success is most often achieved by those who don’t know that failure is inevitable.” —Coco Chanel
• “Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.” —Robert F. Kennedy
• “Success is not built on success. It’s built on failure. It’s built on frustration. Sometimes its built on catastrophe.” —Sumner Redstone

Finally, let me observe that, arguably, the greatest basketball coach our nation has ever produced, John Wooden, UCLA's "Wizard of Westwood" (and my personal "leadership hero"), a coach whose teams won seven consecutive national titles and 10 in 12 years, defined "success" as, "Peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to become the best of which you are capable." He often would attach the following to this definition, "And, only you know if that is true."

So, who gets to decide if you failed or succeeded? You do! End of story!

In closing, let me share the following observations:

• Sometimes, giving your best does not yield the desired result.
• That does not mean you failed.
• It means you gave your all and that the goal was not met . . . this time.
• That you did not reach the desired end does not mean you must hang your head, throw in the towel, or quit . . . at least not from my vantage point.
• From my perspective, in so many ways, it means you should persevere, forge ahead, and continue to "fight the good fight." For, after all, a "winner" is only a "loser" who got up off the canvas determined to try again, this time with greater insight, determination, and resolve!

Dr. Daniel A. Schroeder is President/CEO of Brookfield, Wisconsin-based Organization Development Consultants, Inc. (www.od-consultants.com).

He can be reached at 262.827.1901 or via email at Dan.Schroeder@OD-Consultants.com