Is critical reflection your hidden Super Power?

Sitting here with a sprained tendon has given me the opportunity to critically reflect on what went wrong, how I can improve, and ultimately the power of critical reflection!

A few weeks ago I took the opportunity to reflect on Leadership lessons during lockdown with the final thought about how the skill of reflective practice will improve personal, professional and system leadership. Who knew I was going to get a timely reminder of the power (and pain!) of the reflective process, and how it can be used effectively in your personal and professional life.

I recently signed up to a coached 10K programme with my local running club (shout out to Poplar Runners!) and with my normal gusto when chasing a goal, I have been super focussed to keep to the programme. Until that is, my latest university module due date arrived and I spent the last week or so cramming. So this week I am playing "catch up" and I'm all over the running schedule again, until that is, I sprain my tendon on what should have been my scheduled long run.

So in my misery and frustration, I hear myself saying "its so unfair, I cant believe this!" yet when I actually take time to reflect upon the events leading up to the injury, it is all too clear that it could have been prevented - which is even more infuriating, but also empowering. By using a reflective framework tool I can learn why things did not go to plan and how to improve!

WHAT? (Descriptive) What happened, My role, what was good / bad?

• Reflection One: A previous injury I recently experienced was also a calf injury, and also immediately arising from my last module submission after a week of "cramming" in front of the computer and very little mobility or prehab work (strength & conditioning). So it shouldn't have been a huge surprise that foregoing my normal prehab routine despite continuing with the scheduled runs, resulted in a pulled muscle.
• Reflection Two: Diving straight back into the programme after a few missed sessions increased the likelihood that my muscles would become tired and sore. So the unmistakeable "twinge" in my calf on the last run should have been an early warning sign - that I did not listen to!
• Reflection Three: Deciding to continue with the "long run" rather than take a rest and focus on some "pre-hab" stretching and massage.

SO WHAT? (Knowledge and Meaning) What is my new understanding?

• Self awareness of my cognitive bias and to use reflective practise to slow down the thought process. Daniel Kahneman describes in his book "Thinking Fast and Slow" two systems of thinking. System 1 is our auto pilot, quick decision making and without effort or all of the facts, whereas system 2 is rational and considered thinking, using factual information - our reflective thinking. Kahneman explains the mental shortcuts of our system 1 thinking, utilising heuristic decision making and cognitive bias, to make quick but irrational decisions. Such as my decision to "press on" with training despite the early warning signs, and now suffering a longer delay than if I had rested for a couple days. (damn it!)
• Reflecting on the importance of a goal versus the results of my actions. In the scheme of things, the 10K goal is not a critical goal and therefore more flexibility could have been applied.

NOW WHAT? (Plan of Action) Steps I can take, broader issues and transferable learning.

To improve the outcome I can -

• Follow the coaching plan faithfully and incorporate the warm up / cool down and strength and conditioning exercises purposefully built in to prevent injury.
• Use the coaching "comments" section to honestly record how the session went to encourage reflection and identification of any early warning signs and access the unbiased opinion of my coach who can revise the training plan accordingly.
• Use the reflection framework to encourage "slow thinking" and improve self awareness, flagging any impulse to make irrational decisions.
• Letting go of "ego" that drives the impulse to become tunnel visioned about reaching a goal and how moderating or "letting go" of a goal is sometimes the right decision.
• Use the experience to improve personal leadership skills, using critical reflection to make continual "micro gains" that can result in big changes over time as James Clear advocates in his book Atomic Habits.

Reflective practice in business

While the example used for a personal goal, reflective practice is equally effective for professional growth. Atul Gawande illustrates the benefits of a coach in his inspiring Ted Talk, using his own experience of using a coach for continuous improvement. Although the process can be painful, and at times feel like you are getting worse before you get better,

Insanity is doing the same thing?over and over and expecting a different result

Gawande explains how coaching provides the opportunity to reflect on reality and how improvements can be made, presenting a new awareness of the many small things that can be changed resulting in big improvements. A coaching environment will foster a culture of continual improvement where the "small things" can be identified and cascaded for improvement across the organisation.

Goal Setting and critical reflection

Critical reflection is powerful when applied to the goal setting process. In Measure what Matters, John Doerr promotes reflection during the goal lifecycle. Doerr terms his process as Objective Key Results (OKR) and for optimum implementation, accountability is key to prevent slippage from the plan, keeping the goal alive and relevant to the core aims of the organisation. Doerr describes key points for critical reflection; continue, update, start or stop. At any point a goal can be updated if early warning signs are observed, and a goal can even be stopped if it no longer serves a purpose - it is OK to let go of goals! Once a goal has been accomplished, there is high value in reflecting upon the journey and the outcome, to identify the learnings and small improvements for the next iteration.

Critical reflection allows an organisation, teams and individuals to view mistakes / failure as an opportunity for improvement, which encourages a growth mindset mentality and fosters creativity. By using System 2 thinking, failure can be transformed into future success as demonstrated by Mathew Syed in his book Black Box Thinking. Syed defines the "Paradox of Success" as being built off the back of failure. We can learn from aviation and medical industries use of intense reflective investigations to determine the root cause, often many steps away from the actual event, paving the way for improved processes to prevent the same or similar incidents arising. Syed uses Dyson as a wonderful example of how reflective practice can lead to innovation, with the invention of a bagless hoover arising out of the frustrations of James Dyson's experience of loss of suction in traditionally designed hoovers.

Ultimate failure can be mitigated by regular reflective reviews, allowing opportunities for iteration as the project progresses, which in todays VUCA business environment is essential for complex decision making and necessity to adapt at pace. Goals and project plans are only effective if they are held accountable by reflective monitoring and evaluation. I developed a useful framework for reflective practice for a team development day that is shared below.

Leadership and critical reflection

Aside from providing operational and process improvements, critical reflection is key to developing leadership skills. Wlodarsky and Carr (2020) highlight the importance of self awareness in a leader, and without honest feedback, a person can be blind to their areas of improvement. Coaching and mentoring can assist emerging leaders develop self awareness and empathy required when taking a senior leadership role. Reardon, R. et al. (2019)?acknowledge critical reflection is an essential skill in an effective leader to manage both goal setting and to create more leaders. Effective tools for eliciting feedback and encouraging a coaching culture are regular 1-2-1 reviews, swapping out the big "annual appraisal" for less formal and more frequent progress reviews and 360 feedback to give a more rounded feedback loop for employees. Coaching techniques such as Johari Window model is also a good tool to start a discussion about self awareness and how the window can change dependent upon the lifecycle of an employee.

Van der Steen et al (2021) discuss the phenomenon of "shrinking time" for modern-day leaders, with the constant demands of being forever "on call" at a time where the complexity of work demands the slow system 2 thinking to avoid making irrational decisions. John Cox reflects upon his involvement in developing a future leaders programme in which personal leadership has a strong emphasis. Participants are challenged to examine their own leadership conduct using a range of tools including a reflective journal. Cox explains that a reflective journal requires a level of commitment but offers benefits including professional and personal development, greater insight, accountability and perspective, that all support system 2 thinking and effective decision making.......... your hidden super-power!

References & further reading:

Video:

• Gawande, A., 2017. Want to get great at something? Get a coach. Ted Talks. ttps://www.ted.com/talks/atul_gawande_want_to_get_great_at_something_get_a_coach

Books:

• Clear, J., Atomic Habits. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Atomic-Habits-Proven-Build-Break/dp/1847941834/
• Doerr, J., Measure What Matters: OKRs: The Simple Idea that Drives 10x Growth https://www.amazon.co.uk/Measure-What-Matters-Simple-Drives/dp/024134848X/
• Kahneman, D., Thinking, Fast and Slow. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Thinking-Fast-Slow-Daniel-Kahneman/dp/0141033576
• Syed, M., Black Box Thinking: Marginal Gains and the Secrets of High Performance https://www.amazon.co.uk/Black-Box-Thinking-Performance-Surprising/dp/1473613809/

Journals - blogs-websites:

• Cox, J., Ten years of a Future Leaders Programme reflective journal. Available at: https://www.sconul.ac.uk/sites/default/files/documents/7_19.pdf
• Evolving Leaders. 2019. Reflective practice: a leadership super power. Available at:https://www.evolvingleaders.com.au/reflective-practice-a-leadership-super-power/
• Janse, B. (2020).?Johari Window Model. Retrieved [insert date] from Toolshero: https://www.toolshero.com/communication-skills/johari-window-model/
• Madsen, S., 2020. The Key To Leadership Development Is Critical Reflection. Forbes. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2020/05/26/the-key-to-leadership-development-is-critical-reflection/?sh=52e64e2b3d7d
• Reardon, R. et al. (2019) ‘Critically Reflective Leadership: Defining Successful Growth’, International Journal of the Whole Child, 4(1), pp. 20–32. Available at: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1213738.pdf
• Reflective Leadership: Learning to Manage and Lead Human Organizations. Available at:https://www.intechopen.com/chapters/52166
• Roberts, C. 2008. Developing Future Leaders: The Role of Reflection in the Classroom. Journal of Leadership Education Volume 7, Issue 1. Available at: https://journalofleadershiped.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/7_1_Roberts.pdf
• The University of Edinburgh. 2022. The reflectors tool kit. Available at:https://www.ed.ac.uk/reflection/reflectors-toolkit
• van der Steen,B.,?van Saane, JW., van Dijk, JM. 2021. ‘Leadership reflective practices: Adaptive challenges, slow questions and meaningful relations in fluid and accelerated times’ Journal of Studies in Social Sciences and Humanities, 7(3), pp. 233–241. https://doaj.org/article/4cab6dc0db1f400ba8aae95c37b53644
• Wlodarsky, R. and Carr, C. D. (2020) ‘Cultivating Leadership in Adult and Continuing Education: Developing Adults Using Reflection Within Mentoring Experiences’, New Directions for Adult & Continuing Education, 2020(167/168), pp. 21–31. doi: 10.1002/ace.20395