Even Chris Fagan is learning.
The first-year coach, aged 56, got swept up in the excitement of an astonishing come-from-behind win against Essendon in Round 15. The hugs were immense, the smile irrepressible. The positive praise for his players was endless and carried through the six days thereafter in the lead-up to a meeting with Geelong.
Then came the reality. An 85-point loss to the Cats. Fagan pondered with his players whether he had been too positive. It's an old adage. A win is never as good as it seems, and a loss never as bad.
"He's an open book that way," Lions ruckman Stefan Martin told ESPN.
"From a playing point of view, it's really transparent. You know exactly where he's at. He doesn't pretend to know everything. He tells it how it is. Sometimes he thinks he's made mistakes and he'll tell that to the group.
"He's not too proud to do that. He takes us on that journey that he's on as well. He uses phrases like 'it's your club', to the playing group and he dissolves that separation between coach and player."
This is the new era at the Brisbane Lions. Senior coach, football department, players and administration all on a steep learning curve.
The curve is as steep as the highest peak in the French alps.
In cycling terms, the Lions are the gruppetto at the rear of the peleton at the bottom of Alp d'Huez.
It's been a long, hard, flat road through the valley just to reach the base of the ascent. But the coach isn't barking instructions from the comforts of the car via the radio. He's riding with them, often at the front of the group, but sometimes he wants others to lead.
"He poses questions to the group," Martin said.
"He's huge on wanting the opinion of the playing group in all aspects, including game plan.
"Not to the point where he's scared to be a leader. He's very much comfortable being a leader and making decisions. But he's very good at getting opinions of the playing group. In terms of playing style he always does ask our opinion."
Football clubs use buzz words like "buy in" when they talk about a culture of unity and driving towards a common goal. But "buy in" requires something to be sold.
Fagan isn't selling a game plan or a culture. He's letting one grow.
"It feels very much like we're on a path at the moment," Martin said.
"We'll have those bad losses every now and then but I think in general we feel really positive.
"I expect to win every week, which is something I probably couldn't say in the past. It feels great. 'Fages' is huge on a growth mindset and committing to the development.
"He's a nurturing voice. Instead of lambasting us for poor performances he takes on a paternal role in a way, making sure we don't lose our confidence after (a poor) performance and shows us statistics to prove that we're on the right track."
Communication has been critical. Martin and fellow senior players Dayne Zorko and Tom Rockliff have all spoken of Fagan's open door policy. The qualified teacher is willing to have honest and open conversations with every player on the list at any given time. It might seem like an obvious thing in theory but not every workplace, let alone football club, operates this way in practice.
Talk can be cheap. Young players need tangible evidence. Martin said the coach is careful to tread a fine line because the group is so impressionable that it can take instructions too literally at times.
That over-eagerness to heed instruction, combined with sheer inexperience, had yielded 11 losses in 12 matches prior to the Essendon game, with the closest losing margin being 27 points. It would be hard for any group not to lose faith in the message and give up on the learning.
"It was funny, we actually ran through some saving the game versus winning the game stuff going into the Essendon game," Martin said.
"Just by luck it actually turned out we needed it at the time. So it all came to fruition. So that was pretty uncanny timing."
The Lions were 27 points down four minutes into the last quarter against the Bombers. They hit the front with the three minutes to go and held on.
It's a steep learning curve. But they are starting the climb.