3: From Reflection to Reflexivity

In previous chapters we have considered reflection and reflective practice as fundamental elements of learning and enhancing performance and decision-making. For leaders, being aware of the value of systematic reflection engenders a spirit of continuous improvement. Utilising tools of reflection enriches the process and knowing what to focus on and when is crucial. Building an awareness of your own values and beliefs helps to understand your influence on others at work and offers deeper reflections that assist in identifying and potentially removing unhelpful idiosyncrasies and rigidities. Recording these reflections in a written format is undoubtedly an advantageous practice that facilitates learning through picking out patterns in reflection. On a professional level, using apps and video as well as guidance notes can add yet more depth and complexity to reflective practice. On the journey so far, we have seen how professional sport has adopted complex models of reflective practice and how coaches and managers understand when to engage with reflective learning and when to allow players and teams to express themselves freely. We introduced the concept of structure and agency in reflective practice and considered the case of medical practice in Chapter 2. We also introduced models that encourage the recording of feelings and emotions in an attempt to attenuate bias and explored the team setting of reflection and its efficacy in raising performance levels through sharing. The discussion for standard attribution error and common-sense psychology in Chapter 2 amplified human tendency to exaggerate and apportion cause and effect in a sometimes unhelpful and inaccurate way. Examples from sport and healthcare were again drawn on to explore these ideas and suggestions and were presented as procedures for reducing and highlighting bias.