Dailies: The Power of Daily Reflection
You have all probably heard the anecdote about the fish who asks his fishy companion “How’s the water today?” to which the fishy companion replies “What the hell is water?”
You see, fish have never known anything other than a life submerged in water. For many of us this begs the question, how can they be so oblivious to something that is so obviously omnipresent in their lives? I’ve learned that this is a powerful question, not just for fish, but for all of us.
How can I be more aware of the omnipresent forces that frame my existence?
Not too long ago, I had a “fish out of water” experience when I left my amazing job at Pluralsight to start my current company, Emmersion Learning. I took much of what I learned and applied these lessons in my new role. It was hard, building a business from the ground up always is. About six months in, having experienced a roller coaster of successes and failures, I realized that something significant was missing in terms of my own productivity and that of our organization. It took me a few weeks of pondering and analyzing to realize what it was.
Simply put, I was no longer engaged in a systematic and meaningful habit of daily reflection.
Dailies
When I started at Pluralsight, I was immediately immersed in the strong, tightly-bonded culture of the product team. One of the things that Nate Walkingshaw (then the CPO at Pluralsight) had us do at the end of every day was reflect on our day and write a summary in our product team slack channel. He called the habit writing our #dailies. This was very unnatural at first, but it soon became second nature. It wasn’t until I left that I realized how powerful that practice was, not only for my personal growth and happiness, but also as a tool to enhance the communication and cohesion of the team as a whole.
The Power of Reflection
A team from the Harvard Business School recently completed a series of studies comparing experiential learning (learning by gaining additional relevant experience) with deliberate learning (learning through reflecting on already gained experience). They found that those engaged in deliberate and regular reflection gain significantly higher learning and performance outcomes than those engaged in gaining additional relevant experience. The implication of these results is that taking the time to think and reflect on what you’ve done is more beneficial than using that time instead to get more stuff done. They also noted that the participants’ sense of self-efficacy and confidence was significantly higher when engaging in regular reflection. So not only did they learn more and do a better job, but they also felt better about themselves and their work.
“Follow effective action with quiet reflection. From the quiet reflection will come even more effective action.” — Peter Drucker
Feeling of Progress and Gratitude
In my experience, one of the most significant results of regular reflection is a satisfying feeling of progress which leads to a profound sense of gratitude. Teresa Amabile, also from the Harvard Business School, has conducted research showing that a sense of making progress towards meaningful goals is the largest indicator of high motivation in the workplace. When I regularly reflect on my progress and accomplishments, I tend to recognize and become aware of the many fortunes I took for granted throughout the day. This sense of gratitude and awareness keeps me rooted in the reality of the proverbial “water” omnipresent in my life. It’s no wonder that gratitude is proven to lead to higher life satisfaction and better physical well-being.
“I don’t have to chase extraordinary moments to find happiness. It’s right in front of me if I’m paying attention and practicing gratitude.” — Brené Brown
Team Unity
The result of regular, shared reflection of an entire team is an increase in transparency and communication, which leads to a deep sense of unity. Ken Margolies from Cornell University wrote that being transparent and bringing people together to discuss common issues are two of the best ways to build and maintain unity in a team. During the #dailies process, I didn’t only reflect on my own work at the end of the day, but I was able to see and read the reflections of my entire team. And I found that my team regularly read and commented on my own reflections. This built a strong sense of “we are all in this together” and made approaching my colleagues with questions or suggestions so much more natural. Our team unity resulted in a combined effect that was truly greater than the sum of its parts.
It’s Not All Sunshine, Lollipops, and Rainbows
Sometimes reflection can take you to a dark place, especially on days when things go horribly wrong. At these times, a keen sense of awareness is vital to learning from what went wrong and finding the strength and courage to move forward in spite of setbacks. For me, these times of reflection are painful, and I have to force myself to feel. I feel the fear of failure. I feel the shame of letting others down. I feel the disappointment of hitting below the mark. I face the choice of either suppressing these feelings only to let them continue haunting me, or embracing and fully experiencing them so I can let them go and move on. Reflection is the key to moving past failures and becoming better because of them.
Convinced Yet?
I have made a goal both in my professional and personal life to incorporate a systematic process of daily reflection into my routine. My team has adopted #dailies into our culture, where we reflect on and share with each other our accomplishments, our failures, and what we’ve learned from them. I reflect on my personal growth and goals in a private journal that I often share with my wife and those closest to me. No matter your role, your circumstances, or your perceived availability, I strongly recommend engaging in a process of daily reflection that works for you.
Thoughts? Testimonials about the power of reflection? Different ways you’ve applied the principle of daily reflection? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below!
