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Reports : Reflective Practice at Work

Reflection, argues Peter Rogan of Future Positive Consulting is one of those things in life that, as busy people, we often persuade ourselves that we “don’t have time for”. We bounce from one thing to the next with “no time to think”. Then when the day’s work is done we’d often rather relax and chill, and rest our hard worked brain, rather than spend any more time thinking". Peter argues that this is a shame. "Reflection, is one of the most powerful habits we can develop, and not taking the time to do it is a massive missed opportunity".

So what exactly does it do, and what are we missing?

Reflection forms a key part of any performance-management process, that is, any aspect of life where results matter to us and where those results rely on the focused and systematic application of effort, knowledge and skill, rather than on luck. The process (as outlined below) involves creating a positive picture of what we’re after (Vision) planning and taking action to achieve it, checking where we are (Reality) reflecting on where we are, and how we got there, and thinking through what needs to be done next.

Without the habit of reflection the risks significantly increase that we will:


In short we risk becoming like the Bluebottle: Exerting tremendous energy and anxiety, continuously repeating the same actions which get us no further towards. Very busy and anxious, unable to slow down, think and learn. Not knowing what to do, we keep trying to do everything faster.


Five key positive benefits of reflection allow us to:


In short, it’s the root of working smarter: Using our intelligence and our problem-solving abilities rather than just our time and energy. It is also the root of effective time-management. It ensures that our time and energy are focused on the right things at the right time. It lets us identify quickly what is working and what is not working for us, and allows us to adjust our tactics for better results. For all these reasons it is the highest-leverage time we can invest. It has a potentially huge short-term and long-term benefits. It’s also free, simple and doesn’t take a huge amount of time.

Yet it’s so underused, you could be forgiven for thinking it was a secret. So why? Well, there seem to be three problems, all of which can be easily overcome:

1. Problem 1: “No time”. Answer: If we’re being honest it takes less time than a bunch of other lower impact stuff (including some time wasting stuff). It also gets quicker, easier and more beneficial with practice.

2. Problem 2: We feel awkward thinking about success (or we say we can’t think of any successes). Answer: This is a skill worth developing. Here we’re being too hard on ourselves and not giving ourselves enough of the credit we’ve earned and deserve.

3. Problem 3: Unhealthy relationship with our mistakes and weaknesses, we beat ourselves up and feel bad. Answer: Stay in ‘Adult’ mode (remember that one?) Don’t go all ‘Parent’ on yourself. Keep perspective – as above, balance any mistakes against successes. Draw any lessons that need to be learned and plan when you can next apply these lessons. Then let it go, there’s nothing else that can be done right now. This is a great skill/habit to develop to develop a more healthy relationship with our weaknesses. It brings us some perspective and peace of mind and helps us to stop stressing ourselves.

All in all it helps us draw comfort and confidence from our success and progress in 2008 and learn and benefit from the lesson our setbacks taught us. It creates a strong positive and realistic platform looking ahead to 2009.

So go on, treat yourself to some real quality personal time and see what difference it makes to how you feel.

For more information on Future Positive Consulting and how they can help you [click here] or contact Peter

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