DON’T JUST LOOK AT WHO LOST. ASK WHY THEY LOST. THAT IS LIFE.
I think this is the difference between just watching football and learning from football. Most people look at the result. France won. Morocco lost. End of story. But to me, the result is only the end of a story. The more important question is why. Why did France win? Was it only because they have Mbappé? If that were true, why do they still look so calm when the ball is not at Mbappé’s feet? Why does every player seem to know what to do? Why are they so hard to beat?
The more I watch France play, the more I realise their real strength is not in one player. Their strength is in how they play as a team. Everyone knows their role. Everyone knows when to move, when to defend, and who needs help. Not everyone scores, but everyone contributes to the win. Most people watch the goals. Most people watch the stars. But they rarely see the discipline, the system, and everything that was built long before the win happened.
Isn’t the same thing happening in life? We see someone succeed. We see his house, his car, his business and his lifestyle. But we rarely stop and ask, why did he succeed? What did he do while others were sleeping? What did he learn while others stopped learning? What was he willing to sacrifice? What did he build over the years before others saw the result?
The same thing happens when someone fails. People are quick to judge and jump to conclusions. But they rarely ask, why did he fail? Was it lack of knowledge? Lack of discipline? A weak system? Or depending on a few individuals for too long, until everything collapsed when those individuals were gone?
After almost twenty years coaching entrepreneurs, I have come to see that many people are too quick to look at the result but too slow to understand the reason behind it. When sales drop, they blame the salesperson. When customers drop, they blame marketing. When operations get messy, they blame the team. But they rarely stop and ask, why is all this happening? Is the problem really the people? Or is it actually the system that failed to help ordinary people produce extraordinary performance?
That is why I believe the question “why” matters far more than just knowing “what”. Knowing what happened gives us information. Understanding why it happened gives us wisdom. That is the difference between a spectator and a learner. The spectator only sees who won and who lost. The learner wants to understand why they won and why they lost.
The same thing happens in business. When someone else’s business grows, don’t just admire the success. Ask, why? When someone else’s business starts to decline, don’t just watch it happen. Ask why too. Because in football, in business and in life, the result is only what we see. The reason behind the result is what finally shapes our future.
Datuk Wira