A Culture of Reflection can Unlock Potential

After the difficult COVID years, a team assembled on a mountain top to take stock and reacquaint themselves with one another. In the process each one rediscovered some of their own power and that of their mission.

The mountain is always there. But why strain yourself and climb it ? Why not just take a leisurely stroll, see the sights from a car, or just enjoy the good weather in the hills and come back.?

Why! 'To begin with, the need for an intense hike up a mountain was not very clear'... 'For the life of me I could not understand why we had to do this painful exercise'

It is a steepish climb, you start at about 8,000 and go a couple of thousand feet further up. If you are reasonably fit and are used to the occasional climb you could make the top in a couple of hours. If not, it could be several hours and induce all kinds of pain. Include the drive, stops, and descent - for a group of people leading sedentary city lifestyles it could mean a 15 hour day on the trot.

COVID put our organization’s iconic Annual Reflection Meet (ARM) on a long pause. A two-dimensional zoom existence, mostly? transactional stuff, not knowing anything personal, not even how tall the other chap is. When in overdrive mode, the difference between Netflix and Zoom meetings can be borderline. Worse, people had suffered -? lost loved ones, dealt with health setbacks, and endured psychological hardship - like millions around the world. The organization too had faced challenges on several fronts. It was time to take stock and hit the refresh button.

Me 'I realised that in real life too I feel like giving up, but when people motivate (me) it helps' ... 'The main thing is not to give up hope' ... 'I still can't believe I completed it, to the summit & back , as I was gasping for breath throughout - must pay attention to my health!' ... 'Reaching the top was really beautiful and fulfilling, I picture the same for my journey at XSEED' ... 'I know that something inside me has shifted, it's about taking on “difficult” challenges'.. 'The value of preparation and practice became so clear'

After a night’s sleep, in the morning gathering, the recovering climbers gave the events of the previous day a think and shared what they felt - risking a bit more than they might otherwise. It is amazing to see that after a difficult semi-imposed experience, given the opportunity, so many people were able to reflect and draw some authentic clear eyed learnings for themselves. No need to lecture, advise, or show power points. Beyond personal realisations we spoke of our work, our mission, our year gone by, our mistakes, learnings, success, and joys. It was learning that did not feel like a burden or a chore.

Structured reflection helps draw learning from an experience. The XSEED Method of teaching and learning that we use in schools emphasises the same process. It is far more effective than repeatedly lecturing children, asking them to copy things from the board, memorize. Discovering your own learnings - akin to Newton after experiencing a falling apple - means you don't forget them and build confidence for the future. Same for adults. Over the years we have seen that repeated processes of experience and reflection helps people be more self-aware and unlock hidden potential. Following up with consistent practice and measurement are extremely important - or else aha moments, like ice-cream, melt really fast.

My Mission 'Intellectually I know that we are all on the same mission, but this was a chance to experience it, feel it - which gives it far more meaning' ... 'It struck me that in all these years we haven't deviated from the vision "help all children realise their potential through quality education" ... 'Felt like a return to the river from which XSEED flows' ... 'Being concrete is something special to us, as opposed to just talking big' ... 'I will remember: 2 Billion Children, 90% in developing countries, 90% unable to succeed because of education, and NO child centric curriculum except XSEED'

Working for a salary is tangible but not distinctive. So we sweeten the pot with promises of bonuses, ESOPS, and ‘career growth’. But what gets people to solve a difficult problem, consistently do great work? Research increasingly indicates that while money and status are important it's simply not enough. In fact a transactional assumption about people - give-money-get-work - becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. It is rallying behind a genuine purpose that gets (the right) people energized, loyal, and gets them to make contributions that surprise themselves and others. (this hbr article is one example)

I have witnessed this first hand. XSEED is a mission to bring quality 21st century elementary education to all children. A first rate program, that would not be out of place in elite schools of the developed world, is being made accessible to all children - including in places that might otherwise wait a generation to get quality education. Doing this is hard and more demanding than a regular corporate job that pays as much, or more. A question worth asking is how come many talented people (pictured above), with choices, have chosen to pour every bit of themselves into this mission? There is a longer answer but the short one is: Culture.

For our closing ceremony we form a large circle and each one choses a word for what they got ... energy, motivation, respect, clarity, courage, friendship, amazement, recharge ... so many good things, so much positivity. Results - I said, when my turn came. It was deserved: after two challenging years the team had delivered quite a turnaround - growth, profitability, customer retention, other good stuff ... - most numbers are up. Far to go yet, but an important hill was climbed this summer. I thought to myself, decades ago when Peter Drucker said 'culture eats strategy for breakfast' he was right - and way ahead of his time. We are too, and our time will come!

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Life can only be understood backwards, but must be lived forwards

-Kierkegaard