Reflective Practice at Work: What We Learn by Entering the Hall of Mirrors

We’re all in on reflective practice.

It’s the best learning tool most people have never heard of.

And we want to change that.

🧠 What is reflective practice?

At its simplest, reflective practice means learning from your own experience - on purpose.

We all do this unconsciously. 

You do something, and you learn from it (kinda). 

But often, the learning stays fuzzy or tacit. 

Like when someone asks: "How do you do that thing you're great at?" 

and all you can say is: "I don't know, I just do."

But if you consciously pause and reflect on what just happened - whether it was a win, a flop, or something in between, the learning goes deeper. 

You connect the dots. 

And the next time you’re in a similar situation, you respond with more skill, insight, and calm.

The fancy books that back this up? Glad you asked:

Schön, D. (1991). The Reflective Practitioner. Ashgate Publishing: New York. (More practical and work-focused)

Boud, Keogh, & Walker (1985). Reflection: Turning Experience into Learning. Kogan Page: London. (Big academic vibes and focused on educational theory, not so much work focus) 

💬 Why do it with other humans?

Because we’re human monkeys and our brains like thinking with other human monkeys.

When we reflect with someone we trust, the insights are richer. 

You catch things you’d miss on your own. 

You feel safer saying the awkward stuff. 

You learn faster, deeper, and with more context.

That’s why we say reflective practice is better as a shared ritual.

🔁 How to try it (it’s simple)

All you need are three questions:

1. What happened?

2. How did it feel?

3. What does that mean?

They look small, but they’re mighty. 

Here’s what they do:

1. You zoom in on real-world action and whether it “worked.”

2. You tune into your internal experience — your emotional and physical signals.

3. You link those things so next time, you can recognise patterns earlier and respond with more clarity.

The result? 

Learning that’s both conscious and unconscious. 

Plus: in a work team, everyone learns from one person’s reflection. 

That’s systems-level growth, baby.

🧩 The best part?

You can do it however you like.

In quick check-ins or long sessions

Formally or informally

With leaders, peers, or project groups

All that matters is:

You ask the three questions

You build genuine trust

You keep showing up with curiosity

🎙️ We believe in this so much…

…that we’ve started doing it live, on our podcast: Sweating in a Bear Suit. We’re reflecting in public. 

📹 Youtube
🎧 Spotify

So you can hear what it sounds like. 

Learn from our learning. 

And maybe see how it could work with your team.

But as always - to lead is to go first.

So we’ll leave you with this:

Who do you respect that you could reflect with?

What would happen if you took them for a walk or a beverage or a cake and asked:

“What happened? 

How did it feel? 

And what does that mean?”

Let us know how it goes.

We’ll be here, reflecting too.