Number 20 of 21 for 21 – Reflect To Improve
I learned an important distinction this year about performance and the meaning of “After-Action.” It isn’t the accumulation of years that makes us great at something, it is our ability to reflect on those years that enable greatness. Humility and brave reflection in search of meaning offer so many advantages to ensuring high performance. During one of our “after-action” meetings, soon after a rigorous in-person patent trial, I realized we were spending our time remembering while at the same time trying to figure out what we would do differently next time.
Michael Lang, long-time and well known mediator, presented WHY REFLECTIVE PRACTICE MATTERS to the ACR-GNY chapter in early December. I was struck by the subtitle “Excellence is not an accident.” My main goal when encouraging and executing after action reports was and still is, improvement.
But Lang’s presentation went deeper and made me realize:
Reflection begets meaning;
Meaning leads to engagement;
They both make improvement inevitable.
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