The Virtues of ‘Rapid Debriefs’
The Brain is Efficient — Tell It What’s Important
Have you ever taken a moment, soon after a meeting, presentation or practice and studied your notes? If you did, you probably remembered more and scribbled in the margin, and perhaps you added additional insights and connections. As you did that, you unknowingly tapped into the concept and virtues of what I call ‘Rapid Debriefs’.
Think of it this way — as you experience something — an event, a workout, a practice, a lecture or meeting, your brain is absorbing and analyzing information.
The brain has an enormous capacity to process information, but there’s a trick — it only remembers what is important and rapidly discards the rest. Researchers think human brains evolved this way to conserve resources (operating the brain is expensive in terms of energy). Unfortunately, this human trait works against us unless we’re diligent and tell our brain what is important. Once the brain knows what’s important, it kicks into high gear.
The Brain is Efficient — Tell It What’s Important
If we have an experience and don’t give it much thought afterward, our brain moves on, and like a computer dumps most of the information from its short-term memory. That’s your brain being efficient — why waste energy on something that’s not important?
However, if we take a moment to reflect on an experience, our brain interprets that as a signal of ‘importance’ and it goes into overdrive as it connects neurons and wraps these connections with myelin. This brain function is the foundation of building skill.
And the sooner you reflect, write about or discuss an experience, the deeper you learn. If you can debrief immediately, it’s far better than waiting 24 hours (haven’t we all experienced this effect?). Think of it this way — the information we retain from an experience has a ‘half-life’ and the longer we wait, the harder it is to glean additional learning and insight from that experience.
I encourage people to engage their brains and write and draw about their experiences as these are very active intellectual ‘debrief’ processes. If you can record the experience with video and then watch while debriefing, it’s extra powerful. And if you can collaboratively debrief with others, the effect is exponential.
If you want to accelerate learning and skill development, incorporate rapid debriefs into your process. As you adopt this discipline, I can guarantee that you will get better, faster.
The Author has spent a lifetime focused on understanding how to build skills and has applied these techniques in businesses, sports teams and with individuals.
Check out www.gritgoo.com to leverage modern debriefing tools.
