Leadership Masterclass – Reflective Practice for LeadersCraig McDowellOctober 2013

Learning Outcomes

Intentions for today:

Exploring what is reflective practice. Sharing some useful concepts and practical tools to enable

reflective skills. In particular, addressing the leadership behaviours

of Adaptability and Decision Making, on the ODI Leadership Competencies Framework, although there are links to Results Focus, and Vision and Strategy.

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Two Hungers

In Africa, they say there are two hungers, the lesser hunger and the greater hunger.

The lesser hunger is for the things that sustain life, the goods, the services, and the money to pay for them, which we all need.

The greater hunger is for the answer to the question ”why”, for some understanding of what life is for.

Handy (1997)

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Reflection

Reflection is an important human activity in which people recapture their experience, think about it, mull over and

evaluate it. It is this working with experience that is important in learning.

Boud (1985)

Informal: Involves self-questioning, develops our awareness of our own

assumptions

Formal: Draws on research & theory, provides guidance &

frameworks for practice

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Reflective Practice

The art of consciously and deliberately thinking things through, while developing understanding of complex, real world

situations.

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Model of Reflection – 5 stage model

We identify a problem that is perplexing & ‘felt’ We observe & refine the identified problem to create a fuller

understanding We develop a hypothesis or an understanding about the

problem, its origins & possible solutions We subject the hypothesis to scrutiny & reasoning We test the hypothesis or understanding in practice.

Dewey (1938)

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Model of Reflection – Reflection in Action

Reflection in action concerns thinking about something whilst engaged in doing it, having a feeling about something & practicing according to that feeling.

This model celebrates the intuitive & artistic approaches that can be brought to uncertain situations. Legitimises emotions.

Schon (1983)

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Model of Reflection – Experiential Learning

Concrete experience: the event Reflective observation: consider what has happened from a

variety of perspectives e.g. own feelings, the group’s, another individual’s view

Abstract conceptualisation: re-package & process your reflections into a theoretical understanding (analysis)

Active experimentation: armed with this new understanding, you do it again, differently this time.

Kolb (1984)

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Model of Reflection – Experiential Learning

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Action

Do

Review

Reflection

UnderstandTheory

Apply

Great ideas

Transfer

Model of Reflection – Emotional Learning

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Action

Do

Review

Reflection

UnderstandTheory

Apply

Great ideas

Transfer

I feel….

I want to feel…..

Why?

I can manage

these feelings

by…

Barriers to Reflection

Kolb sees that to reflect effectively on your experience, you should actively set aside time to reflect & analyse.

Psychological barriers include fear of judgement, fear of criticism, being closed to feedback, defensiveness, professional arrogance.

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Reflective Practice – Shifting Mind-Set

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Mind-Set: patterns of thinking, mental models.

When mind-set changes, everything above shifts

Brown (2006)

Events: reacting to events, problem solving

Behaviours: noting patterns of behaviour

Structures: attention to impact of structures,

mechanisms & processes

Increasing leverage

Adaptive and Reflective Practice

Reflective practice – the art of consciously and deliberately thinking things through, while developing understanding of complex, real world situations.

Adaptive Leadership: “The practice of mobilizing people to tackle tough challenges and thrive.”

Heifetz(2009)

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Adaptive and Reflective Leadership

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Hunker down

Default to what you know how to do, weathering the storm

Protect yourself from external threats

Press reset Use turbulence to reshape the

organisation, redefine the work people do

Process of conservation as well as reinvention

Choices

When have you had a choice of hunkering down or pressing reset?

What were the influences to your decision?

What was the outcome of your decision?

Think of leadership as improvisational art Distinguish the essential from the expendable Run numerous experiments

Foster Adaptation

Why is it so difficult for people to leave something behind

that has been valued?

Leadership today involves orchestrating the inevitable conflict, chaos, and confusion of change so that the disturbance is productive rather than destructive

Embrace Disequilibirum

Keep your eyes on the thermostat

Depersonalise conflict

Have courageous conversations

Embrace Disequilibirum

What do you see as the challenges to having courageous conversations?

Acknowledge interdependence of people

Use leadership to generate more leadership deep in organisation - mobilise everyone to generate solutions

Give up some authority and ownership

Generate Leadership

When have you had to give up some authority and ownership to others in order to generate

leadership, and how did this feel?

Taking care of yourself

Balance with your own thinking and emotions

Be both optimistic and realistic

Find a sanctuary

Reach out to confidants

Bring more of your emotional self to the table

Don’t lose yourself in your role

Taking care of yourself

Reflective Practice

The art of consciously and deliberately thinking things through, while developing understanding of complex, real world

situations.

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Cynefin Framework

Snowden (2007)

Far from agreement

Close to agreement

Agreed future

COMPLICATED

Paths not determinedMonitor against vision

Close to Certainty

Far from certainty

Repetition, improve efficiency

SIMPLE

Plan action & monitor

Coalition building

COMPLICATED

Compromise to create direction

Chaos

Seek emerging patterns

Observe

New ways of working

Facilitating emerging

innovations

Plan interventions that attempt to move to new

attractors

Stacey (1996)

Adaptive Organisation

Adaptive Organisation

Elephants in the room Shared responsibility Independent judgement Develop leadership capacity Institutionalised reflection and continuous learning

Does your organisation provide time for individual and collective reflection and learning?

To what extent does your organisation allocate the necessary resources to get diverse perspectives on improvements?

Reflective Practice

The art of consciously and deliberately thinking things through, while developing understanding of complex, real world

situations.

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Decide on one thing you would like to

explore further.

What is going around in your

head?

What are three ideas that you took from the session?

What do you agree with – what

“squared off” your thinking /

philosophy?