The reflective learning cycle is the centerpiece of the process for learning teamwork and leadership, as well as for organizational renewal. The process is the same, whether the "system" is the individual, team or organization. The fundamental cycle is the learning loop that includes: reflection, interpretation, application, and engagement (different authors use different terms), as shown in Figure 1:
Most hard-working people keep their noses to the grindstone from the origin of the task to its completion. As a result, they have have strong work ethic and effort, but there is no assurance that they have done it the most efficient way, nor that they have learned anything from the task. Perhaps most importantly, they may not have taken corrective action when it would have been most opportune.1. This model is based first on awareness--what are you aware of and what do you call it. Reflection is influenced by experience, linguistic distinctions (you probably can't notice what you don't have a category for), and theory (prediction of what to look for).
2. Interpretation involves seeing relationships, patterns and connections. It involves attribution of causation, which in turn involves ascribing meaning to an event; "What does it mean (to me/us)?"
3. Application takes meaning and asks how it can be used. This results in making predictions (hypotheses) about the patterns that have been observed, to see if what happens next matches the prediction. For example, one might notice that a team member is increasingly quiet and withdrawn, and might reasonably predict that if it continues, then absenteeism will begin. This stage also involves using interpretation to design constructive action to make a difference. For example, rather than allow the member to become marginalized, one might take a gatekeeper role and involve them more.
4. The last stage of the cycle (which becomes the first stage and contributes data to reflection) is engagement. During this stage the person shifts from the reflective process and becomes immersed in the task to be accomplished. At any time, he/she can disengage and reflect again.Also notice that in terms of information theory, Reflection = Data, Interpretation = Information, Application = Knowledge, and (perhaps) engagement (over many cycles of reflection) = wisdom.
The Reflective Cycle Applied to Teams
Since all systems (individual, team, organization) can use the reflective cycle, there is little difference in its application among levels of a system. At the Reflective stage, members notice things based on their experience and language, as well as what has been legitimized as acceptible to discuss. At the Interpretation stage, the team ascribes shared meaning to what they have noticed, and reach consensus. During the Application stage the team emphasizes cohesion and committment to what will be done with the information.
The Role of the Leader
The leader is both a part and apart from this process. That is, the leader is both involved in the reflective process with the team, but also separates from the team and considers the larger process or context in which the team is involved. The leader facilitates the context and process within which the team finds itself and uses the reflective cycle. This is similar to the concept of "requisite variety," or the concept that the component in a system that has the greatest perspective and flexibility will have the greatest influence on the system. The leader must, therefore, be able to legitimize the reflective process, model it, facilitate team member involvement with it, help construct shared meaning, and gain commitment to a plan that moves them toward a vision.
Figure 2. Shows the nested nature of the learning cycle: Individual reflection occurs within team reflection occurs within organization reflection, and all are within the span of the leader's vision and strategy.
In addition, the reflective cycle involves not just one, but two cycles. As Argyris notes in his Model 1 and Model 2 distinctions of reflection, the first cycle is based on certain paradigms: culturally influenced ways of perceiving, thinking, valuing, etc. It is possible for a biased learner, for example, to overlook critical data simply because of the method used to search for data. When this occurs, the leader and team must not only examine the task, but must also examine their paradigm for reflecting on the task. Challenging norms, culture, beliefs, values and assumptions can cause quite a disruption in a system, and there may be strong sanctions against doing so. Nonetheless, being able to reflect on the process itself, or learning how you learn, deciding how to decide, etc., enables modification of the whole process as needed. The two cycles are shown in Figure 3:
Learning Reflective Learning
For teams to learn this skill there must first be a legitimation of the process--the team process and interactions that generate a solution to the task must be as important as the task itself. It takes time to reflect and discuss team processes; it is often uncomfortable to members because differences and conflicts arise and must be settled; it may require challenging norms that have been accepted as the status quo for years; it means that the team must keep reinventing better ways to do things although they may have been successful in the past--it's not easy.
Teams may need to schedule time toward the end of each meeting to adequately reflect on team processes. This may take more time initially for new teams, and more experienced teams may later conduct it spontaneously as needed. Not doing it for several meetings may indicate a subtle but dysfunctional norm against team processing. The following four short questions will help focus discussion:
- What helped or facilitated our meeting? (Continue)
- What hindered our meeting effectiveness? (Stop)
- What changes do we want to make for next time? (Change)
- What have we learned about ourselves and teamwork? (Learn)
Additional information and weblinks:
http://faculty.css.edu/dswenson/web/TWAssoc/reflectivepractitioner2.html