In a previous post, I laid out the basic debriefing format in three simple questions:
- What's going well?
- What needs to go better?
- What have I learned from this?
It takes a while to make debriefing an essential part of your repertoire, but those wanting to go up the ladder, be able to take advantage of opportunities, and get the jobs they want will take the necessary steps to insert this into their front brain lobes. Successful career development is a systematic process, and debriefing shouldn't be overlooked.
Once you get familiar with my basic model, the fast-trackers will want to do more with debriefing. The payoff can be immense. You can turn your work learning into continual on-the-job behavior.
A Harvard Management Update, has an intriguing idea about why many business people don't use debriefing: The reason is that old news is considered irrelevant. Most professionals are forward-looking: they tend to forget that they can make what happens next week far more efficient if they spend some time debriefing the past.
In that same issue, the writer lays out a more detailed debriefing process for teams and organizations. Although I've used it when consulting with teams, I find it especially helpful when I'm working on a more complex skill for myself, or having difficulty gaining a new competency. (Yeah. Some competencies are more difficult to learn than others.)
Here's the four step debriefing process from that same Update, which I've adapted for personal use. You'll notice that it's not rocket science, and it can be applied in absolutely any setting.
- What did you set out to do? Define the purpose of the action and, in specific terms, the expectations for its successful execution.
- What actually happened? While the event is fresh in your mind, reconstruct what occurred and figure out the most accurate account of the results.
- What were the differences between the desired and actual results, and why did they occur? Diagnose any discrepancies, establish cuases and effects, and be ruthlessly honest.
- What are you going to do next time? Specify and implement actions for the future, including successful steps to be repeated and improvements to be made.
I'm well aware that many business people see systematic processes as a pain in the ass. I come from that same world, but I've learned that if I want to succeed I'll need to roll over and learn the processes. There is some very good news about processes aside from their long term value: the more we learn them, the faster we can learn them and the more useful they become.
