Rumination vs Reflection?

“I don’t like the word reflection’’

This comment was recently made in one of our Discovery in Action closing workshops.  We had just posed the group the question: What had you learned about the practice of reflection?  This led to a fascinating conversation about the nature of reflection.  For some people they had an image in their minds of something soft, unfocused, meditative or meandering in nature.  It was just a word that some people felt was not purposeful enough.

Well I have a different take on what reflection means...

Of course, in general language it is not unusual for the word reflection to be used to describe someone pondering and musing over something without reaching any conclusions of note.  Someone is simply being reflective.  However I believe there is a real discipline to the practice of reflection that is not always well understood.

Many use reflection as a synonym for rumination.  I believe it is useful to understand the critical differences between the notions that these words – rumination and reflection – are attempting to describe.  In fact, at some level, they are polar opposites of each other.  We all engage in rumination on a regular basis – that is where we allow our thoughts to swirl around in our brain, having the same thought multiple times with numerous variations, thinking about a series of what ifs, wondering about people’s motivations.  It can go on for hours or even days…we all know the feeling, we have all had this experience.  You might have had a run-in with someone; you’ve made a stuff-up or think you might have; or something just didn’t turn out as planned.  It’s not always negative – it can be a great success or win where you happily indulge in private thoughts about your greatness or possibilities of future success – although my guess is that most rumination energy is put into the bad stuff.

We get stuck in superficial exploration, never progressing our thinking and action...  

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How to use your 1-on-1 catch-ups to fuel performance

In a study into the practices of the best team leaders, conducted by Deloittes and released by the Harvard Business Review in April 2015, we learnt that the team leaders who were considered the 'best' conducted regular check-ins with each team member about near-term work - often on a weekly basis! But these were not the typical one-on-ones many of us think of. 

"These brief conversations allow leaders to set expectations for the upcoming week, review priorities, comment on recent work, and provide course correction, coaching, or important new information". The conversations

• provide clarity regarding what is expected of each team member and why,
• what great work looks like, and
• involve an exploration about how each individual can do his or her best work in the upcoming days

The authors Buckingham and Goodall declared : "For us, these check-ins are not in addition to the work of a team leader; they are the work of a team leader."

And they found a direct and measurable correlation between the frequency of these conversations and the engagement of team members.

Click here to see the rest of this post, and access a printable copy of the 1-on-1 visual graphic which outlines how these one-on-ones should work.