Ways to Encourage Reflection and Learning in Teams

This week, I facilitated a manager workshop on how to grow and develop people and teams. One question sparked a great conversation: “How do you develop your people outside of formal programs?” It’s a great question. IMO, one of the highest leverage actions a leader can take is making small, but consistent actions to develop their people. While formal learning experiences absolutely a role, there are far more opportunities for growth outside of structured settings from an hours in the day perspective. Helping leaders recognize and embrace this is a major opportunity. I introduced the idea of Practices of Development (PODs) aka small, intentional activities integrated into everyday work that help employees build skills, flex new muscles, and increase their impact. Here are a few examples we discussed: 🌟 Paired Programming: Borrowed from software engineering, this involves pairing an employee with a peer to take on a new task—helping them ramp up quickly, cross-train, or learn by doing. 🌟 Learning Logs: Have team members track what they’re working on, learning, and questioning to encourage reflection. 🌟 Bullpen Sessions: Bring similar roles together for feedback, idea sharing, and collaborative problem-solving, where everyone both A) shares a deliverable they are working on, and B) gets feedback and suggestions for improvement 🌟 Each 1 Teach 1:  Give everyone a chance to teach one work-related skill or insight to the team. 🌟 I Do, We Do, You Do:Adapted from education, this scaffolding approach lets you model a task, then do it together, then hand it off. A simple and effective way to build confidence and skill. 🌟 Back Pocket Ideas:  During strategy/scoping work sessions, ask employees to submit ideas for initiatives tied to a customer problem or personal interest. Select the strongest ones and incorporate them into their role. These are a few examples that have worked well. If you’ve found creative ways to build development opportunities into your employees day to day work, I’d love to hear what’s worked for you!

Most companies claim they embrace failure. But walk into their Monday meetings, and watch people scramble to hide their missteps. I've seen it countless times. The same leaders who preach 'fail fast' are the first to demand explanations for every setback. Here's the uncomfortable truth:  Innovation dies in environments where people feel safer playing it safe. But there's a difference between reckless failure and strategic experimentation. Let me show you exactly how to build a culture that genuinely embraces productive failure: 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭-𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐦 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 Stop asking "Who's fault was this?" and start asking: "𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘺𝘱𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨?" "𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤 𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘢 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘶𝘴?" "𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯?" 𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞 '𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐬' Monthly meetings where teams present their failed experiments and the insights gained. The key? Leaders must go first. Share your own failures openly, specifically, and without sugar-coating. 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 "24-𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞" After any setback, give teams 24 hours to vent/process. Then require them to present three specific learnings and two potential next steps. This transforms failure from a dead end into a data point. Most "innovative" teams are just risk-averse businesses in disguise. They've mastered innovation theater, not actual innovation. Don't let your people think they need permission to innovate. Instead, start building systems and a culture that make innovation inevitable.

86% of Breakthrough Innovations Happen When We Pause to Wonder "What If?", Yet Most Leaders Fill Calendars Too Full for Curiosity Scrolling through LinkedIn on this relaxed Saturday morning, Khozema Shipchandler's celebration of Twilio's 400th patent caught my attention. His words about innovation being "our engine" rather than just a buzzword resonated deeply as I sip my coffee, mind wandering beyond weekday constraints. What truly powers innovative cultures and discovered fascinating patterns: → Space Creates Breakthroughs Organizations that build legitimate "think time" into workweeks see 3.7x more employee-generated innovations. Companies with protected thinking hours experience significant creative output, yet 78% of knowledge workers report having zero unstructured thinking time. ↳ As Khozema noted, each innovation represents "a spark of curiosity, a bold idea, & the drive to build something new" → Psychological Safety Drives Bold Thinking Teams with high psychological safety produce 41% more innovative solutions than peers. When employees feel secure taking risks without fear of ridicule, organizations experience 37% fewer implementation failures and 2.5x faster idea-to-market cycles. → Cross-Pollination Transcends Boundaries Our analysis shows 68% of transformative business ideas originate from outside industry frameworks, often sparked during moments of relaxation or unexpected connections that traditional work structures rarely accommodate. ↳ Organizations breaking down silos see innovation rates triple compared to those with rigid department boundaries Cultivating Curiosity-Driven Culture ✦ Inspiration Catalysts – Install physical and digital spaces where employees share articles, ideas or thoughts that sparked "what if" moments, creating continuous innovation triggers. ✦ Celebration Rituals – Implement storytelling practices highlighting both successful innovations and valuable "productive failures," reinforcing that exploration is valued alongside execution. ✦ Connection Architecture – Design both physical and digital environments that facilitate unplanned interactions across functions, knowing innovation thrives at intersections. ✦ Reflection Rhythms – Build regular pauses into organizational cadence—like I'm enjoying this Saturday—where stepping back allows patterns and possibilities to emerge. The most innovative organizations recognize that building creative culture requires both structure and space—systems that nurture curiosity while providing the safety and resources to transform questions into impact. What's one unexpected source that's sparked your best innovation? Love exploring possibilities, Joe PS: We are building People Atom, the private network where forward-thinking HR leaders and founders learn to balance structured execution with creative exploration to transform innovation cultures. Our first private roundtable for CHRO's is scheduled on July 11th in Chennai (DM me for details)

I’ve been reflecting on how much time I am investing in my #ProfessionalDevelopment, and how to best support our #LearningCulture within Prosci, especially with tight budgets and resource constraints. Here are some of the low to no-cost, highest-ROI strategies ideas I’ve found to be effective. I’d love to hear what’s been working for you! 🎯 Create a learning plan with very clear objectives. I personally love using our individual change #ADKAR framework for this. AWARENESS (recognize the need for improvement - why does this matter?); DESIRE (your individual dedication and motivation to do the learning - why does this matter for me?); KNOWLEDGE (specifics on how you will gain the skill, e.g., training, peer learning); ABILITY (plan for practice - how will you demonstrate and apply new knowledge?); and REINFORCEMENT (ensure sustainability - what steps will you take to maintain results?). 🔗 Partner up internally. Can your finance team teach project managers how to measure ROI? Could marketing help HR with engagement strategies? These internal "barter" arrangements often unlock surprising value. ☕ Encourage knowledge-sharing. Create spaces where teams can share challenges and solutions. Not only does this build skills, but it also strengthens cross-team relationships that improve execution. Whether through internal online forums, lunch-and-learns, or mentoring, the more people share what they know, the more it multiplies. ✋ Tap into your organization’s experience. The person who led a similar project three years ago could be your best resource today - no budget needed. I'd encourage you to be a bit #vulnerable and ask for support where you know you don't have all the answers. 🤖 Leverage free AI tools. AI can accelerate learning and can offer immense value when used creatively. AI tools like language models (e.g., ChatGPT) can provide instant answers to questions, explanations of complex concepts, or help with brainstorming ideas. Want to create a personalized learning plan on a new #skill or #competency? It's brilliant. ⏲️ Make time. I know this one can be tough, but I’m committed to creating time for learning—whether it’s blocking out "learning hours" in my calendar, dedicating time during team meetings, or making weekend chores more productive by listening to a #LinkedInLearning course at the same time as I weed the garden. It's a small investment that pays dividends over time. #ResourceOptimization #KnowledgeSharing #AILearning #CapabilityDevelopment

Innovation goes against intuition. We emphasize high quality, high productivity, high performance. However, this culture puts the incentive and reward on doing it right the first time. We internalize this mindset around being “the best” and doing it right, but this isn’t how we innovate. We need to shift our mindset from doing it right the first time, to taking actions that will lead to learning. ❓ What assumptions can we test in our work?  ❓ What can we do quick and cheap to learn? ❓ How can we take a failure and turn it into a learning opportunity? Organizations with learning cultures foster a better chance for innovation to thrive. How do we cultivate a learning culture on our teams? 🤔 Adopt retrospectives -  Don’t assume retrospectives are happening - put some structure to them. Build into your organization’s process a continuous learning culture by committing to retrospectives and capturing the insights from your recent endeavours. Adopt a “what did we learn?” mindset and reflect regularly. 👏 Reward failure - If we want it to be OK to fail and learn from our mistakes, we need to make it safe to fail. Incentivize failures by celebrating them as learning opportunities, and congratulating team members for deciding to shut something down based on data. Don’t base high performance on how perfect the work is the first time, but on how much we learned, and grew the idea or program over time, pivoting based on insights. ✍ Capture insights - It’s one thing to do the retrospective, but how do we take our learnings and not lose them? Building institutional knowledge means going beyond the meeting and archiving the key learnings, code, templates, materials, and adopting a practice of continuous iteration to operations that factors in those learnings. You have to build cycles in to reflect, and make time to invest in composting the good stuff so it doesn't get lost and have to be reinvented down the line. #innovation #design #leadership #designthinking This is the first of a 3-part series of posts I'm doing this week on innovation. Connect with me for more!

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗙𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗮 𝗖𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 📚🚀 Are your employees still viewing learning as a one-time event rather than an ongoing journey? This common mindset can significantly hinder your organization’s ability to innovate and adapt to new challenges. When learning stops, growth stagnates, and your team may find it difficult to keep pace with industry advancements and emerging trends. Here’s how to transform that mindset and cultivate a thriving culture of continuous learning in your organization: 📌 Promote Ongoing Education: Foster an environment where learning is encouraged and valued. Make it clear that growth doesn’t end after initial training but continues throughout an employee's career. Share success stories where continuous learning has led to significant achievements within the organization. 📌 Provide Learning Resources: Give your team access to a variety of learning resources, such as online courses, workshops, webinars, and reading materials. Invest in creating trainings tailored to individual career paths and development needs of your employees. Encourage employees to take advantage of these resources and integrate them into their daily routines. 📌 Recognize Continuous Learning Efforts: Celebrate learning achievements to reinforce the importance of continuous education. Recognize employees who actively pursue learning opportunities, whether through internal communications, awards, or incentives. This not only motivates the individual but also sets a positive example for others. 📌 Embed Learning into Daily Processes: Make learning a natural part of the workday. Encourage team members to share knowledge during meetings, collaborate on problem-solving, and participate in peer learning sessions. A culture of continuous learning thrives when it’s seamlessly integrated into everyday activities. 📌 Foster An Open Feedback Culture: Create an environment where feedback is constructive and encouraged. Regularly solicit feedback on learning initiatives to continuously improve them. Ensure that employees feel comfortable sharing their learning needs and suggestions for new resources or methods. Adopting these strategies will help shift the perception of learning from a one-time event to a continuous journey. This cultural shift is crucial for fostering innovation, resilience, and adaptability within your organization. How does your organization promote continuous learning? Share your thoughts and strategies in the comments below! ⬇️ #ContinuousLearning #LearningAndDevelopment #EmployeeEngagement #CorporateTraining #Innovation #WorkplaceCulture