Is grossly underrated*.
That is: taking the time to sit down after a project, pitch, tender, audition, presentation, speech, exam or meeting to consider:
- What did we set out to do?
- What happened?
- What went well?
- What could we do better?
- What did we change our mind about?
Think of it as a way to close the loop on your learning. Treat it as a message to your future self to remind them of your insights when they look back. Consider adopting it as a habit, regardless of the outcome of said project, pitch, tender, audition, presentation, speech, exam or meeting.
Merely doing what you did yesterday isn’t going to get you any further than it did yesterday. There’s always something to learn.
So what would it take to pause, deliberately reflect and consider what it is?
*As is eating peanut butter direct from the jar #justsaying