Kobe Never Parked the Bus: Fear of Failure and Playing Not to Lose

“If you're afraid to fail, then you're probably going to fail.” — Kobe Bryant 2014

The reason I use sport and strategy together is because sport has a wonderful way of simplifying complex ideas. It also gives great examples of why sometimes the hardest decisions in business, sport and even life are knowing when to attack, push boundaries and keep moving forward, or when to consolidate, fall back and defend.

Kobe Bryant's quote gets to the heart of the issue. Fear of failure doesn't actually remove risk. It just changes the type of risk you are prepared to take. You can take the risk of attacking further and potentially losing, or you can take the risk of protecting what you have and potentially failing anyway. The difficult part is knowing which risk matters most.

I have been thinking about and writing this article on and off since watching England's exit from this year's football World Cup. Thomas Tuchel's decision to protect a 1-0 lead against Argentina ultimately backfired, raising a question that goes deeper than football: when does protecting what you have become a bigger risk than going after what comes next?

That distinction matters because playing it safe isn't always the wrong decision. Sometimes protecting what you have is exactly what you should do. I wrote a piece recently about Irish sprinter Rhasidat Adeleke and the strategic lesson of retrenchment, and how sometimes doing less is the thing that allows you to come back stronger.

But retrenchment as a strategy only really works if you know when to come out of it and launch a counterattack. The danger is becoming so focused on protecting what you have already accomplished that you stop looking for what comes next.

Football has a great phrase for this too.

Park the Bus

“Park the bus” is a phrase made famous by José Mourinho, one of the greatest football coaches of the modern era and the man who famously called himself “the Special One”. Mourinho used the term to describe when a team stops trying to win a game and starts focusing on trying not to lose instead.

The logic sounds sensible: protect the lead, reduce risk and manage the game out. However, the attempt to reduce one risk can create another.

Another very wise man, Isaac Newton, not a football coach and probably closer to being “the Special One”, can help explain this. His famous theory says that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. The opposite reaction to parking the bus is that defending deeper can allow you to defend while simultaneously handing your opponent more possession and field position. That can allow them to grow in confidence, build momentum and suddenly you find yourself under sustained pressure.

The same thing can happen in business. Protecting a successful product or market position might reduce the risk of having to develop new products or invest in other areas, but not keeping one eye on the future can leave you exposed to a competitor willing to attack your market with something new.

Defensive Sports Are Changing

Snooker is probably one of the closest examples of a sport where patience and defence have traditionally been rewarded. For decades, the safety game was built around positioning the cue ball away from the reds and trying to force your opponent into making a mistake. Even that strategy has changed, with players such as Ronnie O'Sullivan and the modern generation showing that positive play can often beat a cautious approach.

Test cricket offers another example. For generations, the game was built around patience, defence and survival, waiting for opportunities and wearing the opposition down. Then came Bazball and the Ben Stokes-led England team, which challenged the idea that the safest route to success in Test cricket was always the conservative one.

The lesson isn't that an attack-only approach always works, because it doesn't. The best coaches and leaders understand that focusing solely on defence creates its own risks. They recognise when the landscape is changing and have the foresight to know when the right time is to switch from one approach to the other.

When Not Losing Becomes the Goal

When do you keep attacking and when do you make the switch to defending a lead?

There are plenty of examples in sport where getting that decision wrong has changed the outcome. AC Milan's collapse against Liverpool in Istanbul, New Zealand's 24-10 lead over France in the 1999 Rugby World Cup semi-final and Rory McIlroy's final-round collapse at the 2011 Masters all tell versions of the same story.

The point isn't that these athletes or teams should simply have attacked more. It is that once the objective changes from winning to not losing, the way you play can change with it.

In life we often have more respect for someone who tries to win and fails than someone who decides to play it safe and loses. Ambition carries a different kind of respect, and failure is often easier to forgive when someone has taken a chance and gone for it. As a fan there is something particularly frustrating about watching someone with a chance to achieve something great, only to see them focus on protecting what they have and eventually lose anyway.

That brings us back to England in the latest World Cup semi-final.

England took a 1-0 lead through Anthony Gordon in the 55th minute, but Tuchel responded by bringing on defender Ezri Konsa for Gordon and switching to a back five. Argentina eventually equalised through Enzo Fernández before Lautaro Martínez scored the winner in stoppage time. In the 37 minutes between Gordon's goal and Martínez's winner, England had just 12% possession.

The debate around Tuchel's decision-making, which even Donald Trump weighed in on by questioning why England had taken Harry Kane, their best attacking player, and put him “on defence”, quickly showed me how a tactical decision can become a wider judgement about a leader's mindset and belief in his team.

The Best Defence Is Often Attack

In recent times, we have seen some of the best defensive systems in sport become more aggressive, with attacking intent. The high press in football, the blitz defence in rugby and the full-court press in basketball are all defensive strategies built around taking the initiative.

They don't wait for the opponent to make a mistake. They apply pressure and try to force one, creating opportunities to counterattack closer to the opponent's goal. The objective is still defensive, but it is achieved by moving towards the opposition rather than backing away and hoping for the best while watching the clock tick down.

Business is no different. The strongest organisations are not always the ones with the biggest budgets or the most resources. They are often the businesses willing to keep pushing, adapting and taking a few more risks when market conditions are changing.

A good Irish example of a company that has defended its market position by continuing to take risks and attack is MJ Flood. The company started in 1935 repairing and selling typewriters before moving into photocopiers, managed print and office technology as the workplace changed. It has continued to diversify, moving into security and, more recently, coffee solutions through its acquisition of Milano Coffee Systems in 2024.

It is a good example of a business not becoming too attached to the product that made it successful, instead looking at where its skills, customer relationships and service model could take it next.

In the modern world, first with the internet and now with AI, markets don't stand still, customers don't stand still and competitors can enter markets much quicker. Technology is evolving faster than many business plans, strategies and product roadmaps.

Trying too hard to protect what made you successful in the first place can sometimes be the fastest way to lose it.

Has Tuchel Tweaked His Approach?

Tuchel's first game since the World Cup was against Spain at Wembley on Saturday night. England lost 3-2, but there was a noticeable difference from the Argentina game. England pressed higher, played more directly and were much more willing to take the game to Spain rather than sit back and absorb pressure.

There was also the return of Trent Alexander-Arnold to the England squad after missing the World Cup. TAA is one of England's most naturally attacking talents, with a right foot that could rival the great David Beckham's, yet he remained on the bench for the entire game while the more defensive Jarell Quansah started at right-back. Tuchel explained afterwards that Quansah's defensive qualities were the reason for the selection.

Maybe Tuchel has tweaked his approach, but it is hard to really tell. The real test will come when the chips are down in a higher-pressure game, particularly when England are defending a lead.

The next time England have a 1-0 lead, will he keep the high press and continue to attack the opposition, or will the natural human instinct kick in and England batten down the hatches and go back to Park the Bus?

The Lesson From Kobe

Choosing the opposite approach to what seems instinctive is often the hardest decision leaders face. But often the biggest risk is not taking one.

Both in sport and business, success can create comfort and complacency. John Kotter's 1995 work on organisational change highlights the importance of recognising when change is needed as a business grows.

Sometimes, for sure, the right call is to retreat, consolidate and defend your position. The difficult part for a leader is knowing when to change approach or counterattack.

I have always had more respect for people who take a chance and fail in life than those who play it safe and eventually end up in the same place.

That is why I love the late Kobe Bryant's line. One of the NBA's great leaders and winners, Kobe left us at 41 in 2020 after a tragic helicopter accident. The line captures the point and Kobe's personality perfectly. Playing it safe doesn't eliminate the risk of losing.

Sometimes it just means that, as Kobe said, if you're afraid to fail, then you're probably going to fail.

Blog by Padraig O'Donnell