MAKING THINKING VISIBLE

Recently I was in a panel discussion hosted by #BraveSpace, a monthly virtual coffee break for #KUKA employees undergoing or who have undergone KUKA's Futureproof #Leadership development program, #GRIT AND GRACE (GG).

The event, hosted by Stefan Schmid and facilitated by Roz Hussin , was opened to a global audience.?

The GRIT AND GRACE program, designed by Roz Hussin, a metacognitive coach, aims at preparing #leaders for the unknown future by developing their #metacognitive skills.

The focus of the panel discussion was #evidence-based learning or #data-driven performance through #self-documentation.

The panelists comprised both external guest speakers and KUKA employees.

During the session, each speaker shared their experience in documenting their daily #self-care routine.

Daniella, an invited guest speaker, described her #documentation journey. When she started documenting, she wrote texts. However, when she found it difficult to maintain text-based documentation, she switched to using photos and posting them on Instagram. She explained how the process of documenting led to an increased #awareness of her own thinking, her surroundings, and what was happening in her body. Documentation made her #thinking visible

Kuka employees in the GG program too shared their experiences with documenting their self-care routine called #Daily Dose which is a module in the GG program.

Roland Ritter's group encountered an obstacle when several members found the initial self-care goal onerous. Recognizing that people tend to do more of what they like, the group revised the goal to something that was achievable for everyone. Through #self documentation, they gathered evidence of the need to revise the goal and this led to an improvement in #group productivity.

Charette B, comprising six people, set a goal to combine their individual running distances to match the distance to Sydney. They used various documentation #strategies like video and spreadsheets to track their journey. The video compilation they presented made their journey visible: how they felt, the difficulties they overcame, the decisions they made, and the AHA moments they experienced. The members' #motivation came from their individual efforts contributing to a group goal.?

One thing became clear in all the presentations: when participants externalized their thoughts through writing, drawing, and other methods of documentation, their THINKING BECAME VISIBLE.

It was evident that during the process, participants reflected on the #evidence to assess their success, evaluated their chosen strategy for usefulness or difficulty, and thought about what they could do in the future to improve their performance. As a result, they became more aware of their learning, which led to improved #metacognition.

So why is it important for LEADERS to develop their METACOGNITIVE SKILLS?

A key factor in effective leadership is a high level of metacognition, that is, an awareness of the processes of one's thinking. By using metacognitive strategies, leaders can become #self-directed learners who are able to adapt their thinking to new situations, which is a #critical skill for the future.

The panel discussion ended on a high note. The speakers felt motivated by their efforts as they shared evidence of their progress. The audience too was swept up in the euphoria of the sharing and could see how documentation provided evidence for #data-driven performance.

Personally, I am a strong proponent of documenting the learning journey and learning from analyzing the documentation.

How about you? What are your thoughts on SELF-DOCUMENTATION? Do you think this METACOGNITIVE activity is an important skill for leaders to develop?

Acknowledgment and thanks to panel speakers Geraldine Dobos,?Daniela Kok ,Roland Ritter,?Simon Qualek,?Simon Riegel,?Samson Benger,?Claudia González Alonso,?Monica Messori,?Stephan Elsner