Why Teams Must Look Back Before They Look Forward

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On the surface, the title makes complete sense. But in practice teams and organizations either don’t look back or fall into predictable traps when they do. Let’s talk about why reflection is important and how to do it well.

Why Reflection?

Churchill famously said that “those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” If we don’t look back, perhaps we will repeat things we don’t want repeated – because of habit and routine. By looking back, we have the chance to learn from the past and be intentional about our future actions.

But there is risk here too. Here’s how Canadian historian Margaret MacMillan stated that risk: “We can learn from history, but we can also deceive ourselves when we selectively take evidence from the past to justify what we have already made up our minds to do.”

The challenge is to learn from our past actions, not simply use the past to justify our future. It is a tightrope, but a tightrope worth walking. Here is how to walk it more effectively and confidently.

Using Reflection

Using reflection for creating a successful future requires us to ask better questions about the past and our actions. If we don’t, we will replay history through our beliefs and biases, and perhaps create the risk that MacMillan speaks of.?

Here are some questions to use:

• What can we learn from the past?
• What worked, and why did it work?
• What didn’t work, and why not?
• How is the past similar to and different than the future?
• How do the differences impact the lessons we have learned?
• How do those differences impact the choices we can make now?
• What actions didn’t we take, and why?
• How might the choices we didn’t make work now?

Notice that these questions put the past in context and don’t just make subjective, black and white conclusions.

Effectively reflecting on the past requires nuance. Look for trends, context, and intention, not for simple, immutable answers. When you do, your reflection will be more helpful, create more learning, and less negative judgement. That input will always help you build a better plan.

Avoiding The Big Misstep

The big misstep is having a belief that keeps us from accurately viewing the past. Statements like: “We tried that before – it didn’t work,” might be true in that context, but limit our thinking.

When you hear or think those thoughts, ask exploratory questions like these:

• Why didn’t it work?
• What could we have done, or do next time to change the outcome?
• How is the world (or how are we) different now, and might that change the result?

In other words, acknowledge that things didn’t work in the past, but do not immediately remove them as options. Rather, learn from the mistakes and stumbles rather than immediately dismissing what had been tried before.

When we use the past as a steppingstone, we can see the future from a new higher perspective. When you do you will build a better plan and see a brighter future.

It’s Your Turn

Share in the comments your answer to this question… which of these ideas would be most useful for you to incorporate in your practices what are successful examples from your career of looking back to create a better path forward?? Thanks in advance for sharing your ideas!

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