Coaching practices for Why Things Go Very Right or Very Wrong
Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For Why Things Go Very Right or Very Wrong, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.
Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?
- After one unusually bad showing I conclude something’s really wrong, and after one great one I’m sure they’ve turned a corner
- I had one unusually bad stretch, then I changed something, and now things are better
- However things turn out, I can always tell myself I was basically right because my predictions are vague enough to survive anything
- One thing goes wrong and it instantly becomes a life sentence
- A choice I made blew up and I’m tearing into myself
Practices that may help
- Expect extreme results to regress toward average
Unusually good or bad performance predicts more average performance next time — account for this before giving praise or blame.
The Representativeness Heuristic — Judging by Resemblance - Expect regression to the mean in extreme outcomes
Unusually good or bad performance tends to be followed by more average performance — not because of what you did.
Base-Rate Neglect: Why We Ignore the Odds - Pre-commit to resolution criteria before making a prediction
Define exactly what counts as "I was right" before the outcome happens.
Calibration Training - Overgeneralization
Draw a sweeping conclusion from one or a few negative events.
Cognitive Distortions: The Thinking Errors Behind Anxiety and Depression - Evaluate decisions by process, not outcome
Judge a decision by the quality of the reasoning at the time, not by what happened.
Hindsight Bias: Why Everything Seems Obvious in Retrospect - Analyze your best days — not just your failures — to identify what drives success
When performance is above target, investigate what made it so: replicating peaks is as important as preventing troughs.
Feedback Loops and Behavior Change - Decatastrophize with the worst/best/likely frame
Counter "everything is ruined" by naming the worst case, the best case, and the most likely case.
Explanatory Style: Optimism, Pessimism, and Learned Optimism - Reframe outcomes toward effort and strategy
After a result, attribute it to actions you took (or can change) rather than to fixed luck or fate.
Locus of Control: Building a Sense of Agency - Judge decisions by the process, not the result
A good decision that produces a bad outcome is still a good decision.
Expected Value Thinking: Deciding Under Uncertainty - Separate the quality of the decision from the outcome
A good decision can produce a bad outcome, and a bad decision can produce a good outcome — do not confuse them.
Thinking in Bets
Related concerns
- Decision Quality Vs Outcome
A good decision can produce a bad outcome, and a bad decision can produce a good outcome — do not confuse them.
Separate the quality of the decision from the outcome
- Good Decision Bad Outcome
A good decision that produces a bad outcome is still a good decision.
Judge decisions by the process, not the result
- How To Evaluate Decisions Fairly
Judge the process you used — not whether it worked — when you review a past decision.
Score decision quality separately from outcome quality
- How To Interpret Performance Changes
Measure progress toward performance goals with numbers you collect, not impressions.
Track performance goals with quantitative metrics
- How To Interpret Performance Swings
Unusually good or bad performance predicts more average performance next time — account for this before giving praise or blame.
Expect extreme results to regress toward average
- How To Judge Decisions Correctly
Judge the process you used — not whether it worked — when you review a past decision.
Describe your situation in your own words to search the complete practice library.