Own Failure Before Success
Remove excuses, own the failure, and change the behavior causing it
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~weeks to results
- Steps
- 6
- Confidence
- 97%
The framework treats excuses as mechanisms that protect a person’s self-image while preventing corrective action. Begin with a concrete failure, then examine how it is being attributed to the market, competition, employees, or circumstances. Separate uncontrollable conditions from the decisions, omissions, routines, and standards the person controls. The pivotal move is an unqualified statement of ownership: the result is failing partly because of what the person is or is not doing. That discomfort creates motivation to alter the underlying way of thinking. New procedures and behaviors then follow from the changed mental model rather than from temporary instructions. Repeated review reinforces accountability and makes success something the person can also own.
Origin
Jon Taffer developed this approach while turning around failing hospitality businesses on Bar Rescue, where changing equipment and systems proved insufficient unless the owner also changed.
Core principles
- 01The owner’s behavior shapes the business.
- 02Excuses reconcile mistakes without correcting them.
- 03Personal ownership creates a reason to change.
- 04Changing thought patterns produces more durable action than issuing commands.
How to run it
- 1
Define the failure
Describe the failed result in observable terms, such as declining revenue, poor cleanliness, or missed commitments. Avoid beginning with an explanation.
Pro tip Use a measurable result and a defined time period.
Watch out A vague problem makes it easy to escape accountability.
- 2
Expose the excuses
Write down every external reason used to reconcile the result. Notice which explanations make the failure feel acceptable without producing change.
Pro tip Capture the explanation exactly as it is normally stated.
Watch out Do not assume every external factor is false; the task is to identify what it obscures.
- 3
Find the controllable contribution
For each excuse, identify the decisions, standards, actions, or omissions that remain under your control. Distinguish context from personal contribution.
Pro tip Ask what you could have done differently even if the external condition remained unchanged.
Watch out Ownership does not mean accepting blame for events you could not influence.
- 4
State ownership
Acknowledge your contribution without adding a qualifying excuse. This makes the need for personal change emotionally and practically unavoidable.
Pro tip Use a direct statement such as, “This result is failing because I did not enforce the standard.”
Watch out Adding “but” after the statement usually restores the original excuse.
- 5
Change the thinking pattern
Replace the belief supporting the old behavior with a decision rule that produces better action. Focus on how future situations will be interpreted, not only on one corrective task.
Pro tip Write a rule that can be reused when the same pressure returns.
Watch out A one-time instruction will fade if the underlying reasoning remains unchanged.
- 6
Verify behavior and results
Observe whether the new thinking changes daily action and whether the target result improves. Repeat the ownership process when excuses reappear.
Pro tip Review both leading behaviors and lagging outcomes.
Watch out Do not declare success merely because someone agreed to change.
In the wild
A bar owner blames competitors and the economy for falling sales, while tolerating sticky tables, inconsistent pours, and weak employee controls. The owner acknowledges that neglected standards are a controllable cause, institutes opening and closing checks, and personally verifies them until the routines become stable.
→ The owner replaces passive blame with operating discipline and creates conditions for a sustainable turnaround.
A manager repeatedly attributes late projects to demanding stakeholders. After reviewing the work, she owns her failure to clarify scope and escalate changes. She adopts a rule that every new request must trigger a documented trade-off before the team accepts it.
→ Stakeholder pressure remains, but delivery becomes more predictable because the manager changes her response to it.
Common mistakes
Turning ownership into humiliation
The purpose is to reveal controllable behavior and enable change, not to shame someone or deny legitimate constraints.
Correcting actions without beliefs
Giving a list of commands may produce temporary compliance while the person’s original reasoning eventually restores the old behavior.
Accepting a qualified admission
An ownership statement followed immediately by an excuse leaves responsibility externalized and weakens motivation to change.
Is it for you?
Best for
It is best for owners, managers, and individuals who repeatedly explain poor results through competition, circumstances, or other people.
Not ideal for
It is not ideal when the failure is genuinely outside the person’s control or requires immediate technical intervention rather than behavioral change.
From the transcript
“the only way I could fix the failing business is to fix the failing owner.”
“And my second book, which was a New York Times bestseller, Don't b as Yourself Cut The Excuses that are holding you back, identifies to…”
“And once your own failure, I believe you have a chance of owning success.”
From the episode
Jon Taffer on Bars, Restaurants and Hotels on Lockdown (Podcast)
Jon Taffer