Oops…. This Did Not Work
By Sophie Makonnen
Professional setbacks, such as a project collapse, a poor decision, or ineffective leadership, carry significant repercussions. These disappointing results visibly affect teams, partners, and sometimes entire programs or initiatives. We often ask whether something will matter five years from now. In this case, the answer may be yes. The impact can last. But even when a setback remains part of the story, it does not define the person who lived it. It simply becomes part of the experience you carry forward, one element among many, rather than the one that determines who you are.
Such type of outcomes is unsettling not only because of the outcome, but also due to the gap between intention and result. You acted with care, exercised sound judgment, and considered risks, yet the outcome did not meet expectations.
Their impact can stay with you for a while, shaping how you assess risk, approach future decisions, and move into new challenges. This is simply part of leadership in complex systems, where setbacks can have effects that extend beyond the moment.
That is the frame for this blog. Not recovery, not reinvention. Not lessons learned (although those will have their place). But clarity about what is unfolding is a necessary step before moving toward reinvention or drawing lessons, at least in my experience.
Why These Setbacks Feel Personal
Consequential negative outcomes impact not only professional outcomes but also an individual’s sense of responsibility, judgment, and commitment. While the consequences are professional, the reactions are often personal, as these disappointing results directly challenge qualities valued by conscientious professionals. Taking your work seriously means setbacks feel personal, not just professional. When you think, prepare, and anticipate, significant missteps strike the part of you that values sound decision-making and steady leadership. Even if shaped by context, timing, or constraints, these misses can undermine your sense of competence.
Visibility plays a role, too. In many positions, especially for emerging leaders and women of the global majority, the margin for error often feels narrower. The concern shifts from 'I made a mistake' to 'Will this affect how others see my capabilities?' Whether this is fair or not, it adds extra pressure.
Deep commitment intensifies the emotional cost of work that did not meet its objectives. People who care about their work, teams, and stakeholders feel the consequences strongly. When something you believed in unravels, it can feel like you’ve let others down, even when factors were far beyond your control.
Thinks that simply did not work feel personal, not because you are fragile, but because you are invested: the work matters to you.
Setbacks Have Two Layers: The Event and the Interpretation
A consequential setback always has two layers. The first is the event itself: what happened, what did not happen, and the concrete outcome that followed. This part is usually clear. A project collapses. A decision produces unintended consequences. An initiative stalls. The facts are not in question.
The second layer is the interpretation that forms around the event. This layer is less visible but often carries more weight. It is the set of conclusions you draw about your judgment, your competence, or your readiness to lead in similar situations. It is the quiet narrative that begins to take shape when you look back at the decisions you made, the information you had, and the actions you took.
This interpretation is not neutral. It is influenced by expectations, the standards you hold for yourself, and the pressure many professionals feel to deliver consistently, even when conditions are complex. Without noticing, you may begin to see the setback not only as something that happened in the work, but as something that reflects on you directly.
Distinguishing the event from the interpretation is essential. One belongs to the facts of what occurred. The other belongs to the meaning you attribute to it. Keeping these two layers separate creates space for clarity and prevents a single outcome from reshaping your entire sense of capability.
Guess What? It Wasn’t All You.
Such events rarely stem from one person’s actions. Even if you led the work or made the decision, outcomes are often shaped by factors beyond your control. Acknowledging this context is important; without it, setbacks can be misinterpreted as a personal shortcoming rather than a result of the circumstances you faced.
When disappointment occurs, the instinct is often to look inward. Many professionals assume they should have anticipated the issue or acted differently. However, most significant failures arise from broader circumstances that are not always visible at the time.
This holds true whether you lead a complex initiative or make a straightforward decision. For example, you might hire someone who appears to be a strong fit but is not, or invest in a road show that gains little traction due to timing or audience misalignment. The same applies to larger projects. You may inherit a design that no longer aligns with current priorities or be expected to deliver results based on outdated assumptions. Even with the best available information, initiatives can stall due to external decisions, shifting timelines, or unavailable resources.
Decisions often come from multiple levels, sometimes without full alignment. Information may be incomplete, delayed, or influenced by unseen pressures. Resources and expectations shift, and in complex workplaces, the environment can change faster than plans can adapt.
Recognizing context restores perspective and helps prevent misjudging your abilities. A result that fell short often reflects broader conditions, not your competence. Focus on understanding the system that led to the outcome, rather than viewing it as a measure of your worth or leadership.
What You Can Claim
Placing a setback within its context is only part of the process. You must also examine your own contribution precisely, not to accept undue blame, but to clearly assess your role. Leadership demands honest self-assessment without defensiveness.
Start with the fundamentals: What did you intend? What information did you rely on? What assumptions guided your decision? What did you expect others to do, and was that expectation communicated or realistic? These questions help you retrace your reasoning and understand what shaped your actions.
Clarity also requires looking at the parts that may not have been as strong as they needed to be. Was your assessment complete? Did you thoroughly evaluate all relevant elements, or can you now see gaps in how you approached the situation? Did you move ahead with limited information because that was all you had, or because some aspects were not explored as fully as they could have been?
Expand your reflection to your team and process. Did you have the right people and necessary skills involved? Did you consult those with critical insight, or did over-consultation hinder momentum? Consider who might have influenced the outcome.
A balanced view of your role makes events that went off track tangible and actionable. This step, before forming lessons, identifies what was truly within your influence, ensuring future lessons are relevant rather than generic. You cannot control every variable, but you can clarify your influence on the outcome, what worked, what didn't, and what matters when reflecting forward.
This is not an exercise in confession. It is an exercise in unpacking what was truly yours in the outcome.
Don’t Beat Yourself Up (Even If You Made a Mistake)
After a significant shortfall, instinctive reactions often reinforce what happened. Some people take on too much of the responsibility and begin apologizing for things that were never theirs to carry. Others withdraw or hesitate to speak up, worried that the failure has changed how others see them. Some push harder than necessary to “prove” their credibility. And some refuse to take any responsibility at all, which is another conversation entirely. These reactions are understandable, but they make it harder to separate the event from the story you build around it.
A steadier approach begins by naming what happened clearly, without minimizing it or inflating it. From there, focus on what requires attention now, not on erasing the situation or compensating for it. Communicate briefly and calmly if needed but avoid overexplaining. The goal is not to rush recovery or extract lessons too soon. It is simply to prevent a single setback from becoming a conclusion that does not reflect your actual capability.
Leading After a Visible Setback
Some debacles are private, while others are public and bring added pressure. When they occur in front of colleagues, partners, or stakeholders, it is natural to feel exposed or concerned about their perceptions. This section is not about damage control or image management. That is a different conversation. Here, the focus is on how you lead when others have seen the whole situation unfold.
Public visibility does not necessarily require dramatic responses or elaborate explanations. If appropriate, briefly and factually acknowledge your role. Avoid unnecessary details or justifications. A concise acknowledgment demonstrates steadiness and prevents assumptions. Communicate enough for others to understand what happened and what has changed. When speaking, guide the conversation to maintain clarity and be in control of the narrative.
Next, focus on current actions. Visible failures can create uncertainty, so people look for leadership. Offering a clear next step, even a small one, is more effective than overexplaining the past. This approach shows you take the situation seriously and are moving forward with purpose.
You do not need to prove yourself or repair your image through extra effort to everyone. A grounded, measured approach that keeps work moving forward is most reassuring. Even if some continue to view you through the lens of the undesired event, this does not define you. Remain steady, maintain perspective, and continue leading the work.
Keeping Perspective
Setbacks feels large when you are the one in it. It sits close and takes up space. But it is only one part of your work, not the full measure of it. Often such situations in complex environments say as much about timing, alignment, and context as they do about the person making the decision. Keeping perspective is not about minimizing what happened. It is simply about placing the event back into the broader picture, so it does not overshadow everything else you do. You made a call, it did not land, and the work continues. And with the setback placed in its proper context, you may now be ready to see what lessons, if any, it has left for you.
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