We Don’t Talk Enough About Losing

I don’t know any winner that is okay with ever losing.  That’s what they call a “writer-downer” and something worth remembering.

It really is a fact of life.  If you allow losing to be an acceptable outcome then you will justify and make excuses every time things don’t go your way.

Instead, what is required is a relentless vigor towards results and an unwavering desire to succeed because of the good you are doing.

I ask our good doctors: are you really okay with the idea that someone else is going to do the dentistry that you just diagnosed because you didn’t encourage the patient to do it here, to stay within your practice?  Worse than that, are you really okay with a patient not getting healthy?  

Oh sure, you can say it’s their health, their mouth, their problem, this is true – but – they are also your patient.  

Of course, I’m being a little dramatic in order to prove the point that the real underlying factor to the Huddles we’ve been having together over the past few weeks are about not giving in to yourself or to your patients.  Instead of accepting excuses, you are finding ways to get out ahead of case acceptance by building up the value, elevating the patients’ desire and deserve levels, having them participate fully in the creation of the vision, and together deciding the outcomes you are asking them to invest in.

Ultimately, the real issue here is you deciding and committing to what the idea of “winning” for your patients looks like and eliminating all of the missteps that lose patients’ progress along the way.

Losing a new patient over the phone.

Losing on an incomplete treatment plan.

Losing by not following up.

Losing by giving up too easily.
Losing by not having a lab case ready.

Losing by insurance or money getting in the way of your patients’ health.

Nobody wants to talk about losing – but it’s not enough to just say you want to win – you have defined how not to lose.

You could call it offense and defense.  Yes, you have to focus on scoring points but you also must minimize the mistakes that give up too many points as well.

This means you close the gaps, fill the voids, stop the repetitive mistakes, and never drop the ball.

There is no doubt that you want to do well, otherwise you wouldn’t be here.  However, that doesn’t go far enough.

You have to want to win so badly that you can’t stand the thought of losing by letting yourself, your team, your doctor, and your patients down.

Yes, that’s a lot of pressure.  

It’s much easier to go through the motions and be indifferent about outcomes – but that’s for the average folks – and you aren’t average.

Of course, we can see the scoreboard of helping patients every day and know how we are doing – whether we are winning or losing.  What we are talking about are the plays that make winning possible and the mistakes that make losing inevitable.

That ought to make for some great and interesting discussion right there…

My message today is simple (and tough): commit to not losing.

We talk all the time about “how to win” and yes, doing those things matter.  None the less, it’s the mistakes that cost you the victories.

The whole empathy over excuses is about getting what you accept; no different than winning or losing.

We can have all the good intentions in the world to win but it won’t get the job done along.  It is making sure that we aren’t losing in many little ways that makes all the difference.

You are a winner, we both know this.  Let’s be sure you aren’t thinking, acting, doing anything to the contrary.