Productive Failures

“A pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees opportunity in every difficulty” Winston Churchill.

You don’t need to be an elite performer to see the benefits of adopting a growth mindset and deliberate practice (high-quality reps and focused effort on a specific task). The mere introduction of taking a step back and seeing the bigger picture can often yield untold results in both training and daily life.

This article introduces the ”Productive Failure Routine”, a performance tool facilitating moving forward from poor performances by learning from mistakes and directing focus.

Are you ready to see the opportunity ahead?

Where to begin?

Elite performers choose to approach training and daily life with a Growth Mindset (Dweck, 2007).

Specifically, they:

• Seek opportunities to challenge their skills and abilities.
• Deliberately step outside their comfort zone daily by trying new tactics or practising an old skill differently.
• Understanding failure as part of the learning process, rather than something to avoid.
• Celebrate the success of others because it inspires and motivates them to work harder.
• Develop a sense of purpose that guides their training.
• Approach feedback and setbacks with curiosity, rather than defensiveness.

Building on of the previously discussed 3Rs https://darkhorserowing.com/optimizing-your-inner-voice/, the Productive Failure Routine, provides a strategy for enhancing self-reflection and maintaining a growth mindset in every situation.

The 3 stages of the Productive Failure Routine

Simply put, if you struggle with rebounding from poor performances, acquiring new skills, applying feedback, or actioning direct information, then this performance tool is your growth mindset ticket.

Stage 1. Recognise. Self-reflect on your performance or training day.

• What worked well for me and WHY??

Rationale: Our brain naturally magnifies the negative to protect us. It’s important to recognise what went well and allow your brain to build on it. This will enable you to solidify the positive mental state and increase the likelihood of repeating this behaviour in the future.

• What am I looking for solutions to?

Rationale: Taking your brain to the 10,000ft perspective allows you to choose the areas you wish to be curious about and understand the importance in perspective around each workout or task undertaken. Reframing mistakes as “solutions you are looking for” redefines your given problem area.

Stage 2: Reset. Let go of the past.

• Utilise a cue to facilitate present moments of focus

Rationale: Quietening that overactive part of your brain that is screaming about what happened and what type of person you are can be challenging. Utilize an intentional cue to anchor your mind and be present in the moment.

Examples include:

Verbally saying “let go” out loud.

Physically taking a long, slow exhale through the nose.

Visually closing a door or pressing a “reset” button.

Stage 3: Refocus. Choose to move forward.

• Mentally imagine what “Good” looks like.

Rationale: When you take time to mentally imagine how you want to perform, the brain activates neuropathways as if you were actually completing the task/behaviour in the desired way. Therefore, mentally imagining the task performed correctly is a great way to override faulty mental defaults in the brain.

When is the best time to implement the Productive Failure Routine?

• After receiving feedback on performance to maximize your growth mindset and reduce training “scars”. This may be a quick mental self-reflection, or you can jot down notes in a notepad for later reference.

(Training scars are bad or ineffective habits that we may acquire in training for safety or convenience, (Ellifritz, 2020).

• At the end of a training day as a self-reflection exercise. Create a performance log in a journal or notebook where you can track your progress and see trends across time.

What does your journal look like? Are you tracking the positives or only focusing on the areas of failure?

Want a community to share your experiences and build better habits? Come join us for a 2-week FREE trial of Dark Horse Rowing here https://sso.teachable.com/secure/126797/checkout/3337155/thecrew.

References:

Dweck, C.S. (2007). Mindset: The new psychology of success. New York: Random House

Ellifritz, G. (2020, April 11). Training Scars. Active Response Training