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A crucial part of a mentor or coach’s skill set is the ability to encourage and facilitate individual reflection. Clutterbuck and Megginson’s ‘Model of Personal Reflective Space’ maps out the stages of reflection that an individual must go through in order to achieve an insight into experiences or issues and select appropriate strategies for action.[1]
In a study of over 100 UK directors, Mumford, Honey and Robinson[2] categorized directors by learning style and found that reflectors were by far the smallest of the four groups, indicating that directors find it difficult to reflect.
However, whatever their preferred learning style, individuals must be able to fully complete the learning cycle in order for learning to be effective. This means not only taking part in an activity, but also thinking about what has been learned and how it can be applied. Reflection is especially important in mentoring and coaching, as these development methods are based on increasing self-awareness through personal analysis.
Understanding the Process of Reflection
The Model of Reflective Space can be used by mentors and coaches to understand the process of reflection and assist clients in reflecting effectively in order to learn from experiences or issues.
Clutterbuck and Megginson describe reflection as a form of interaction, drawing an analogy to a mirror and the movement of light that gives it its reflective quality. In this way, they explain, reflection is a ‘dialog with oneself’.[3] They suggest that this dialog can be much more powerful when facilitated by a mentor (or coach), who has the skills to guide the process and ask questions to help the client to consider things that they perhaps would not have considered themselves.
Six States of the Reflective Process
There are six stages of the reflective process, according to Clutterbuck and Megginson. These are:
- ‘disaggregation’
- ‘framing’
- ‘implication analysis’
- ‘insight’
- ‘reframing’
- ‘options’
When individuals go through these stages of reflection, they become more and more introspective until they reach the point of gaining an invaluable insight into the subject upon which they are reflecting. As this happens, according to Clutterbuck and Meggison, it is normal for physical energy and activity levels to drop. This drop in external energy corresponds to an increase in the use of internal energy as thoughts are internalized. Then, towards the final stages of reflection, individuals begin to consider what this insight means. As they visualize the actions that they will take, energy levels pick up again, until they return to a normal state of activity, ready to implement these actions.
The Stages in Detail
In the first stage, disaggregation, the individual is still in a normal working state, focusing on getting things done rather than thinking about how or why. External energy is at an average level.
It is only when the individual acknowledges the issue that needs to be addressed that the reflection process can begin. This is the second stage, known as framing. Here, the individual takes the first steps to deal with the issue by acknowledging, defining and giving a structure to it. External energy levels begin to dip.
During the third stage, implication analysis, the individual considers the implications and potential consequences of the issue, such as what will happen if they don’t deal with it, what could happen, and what they want to happen. External energy levels continue to decrease.
By the fourth stage, insight, all energy is focused on internal reflection and external energy levels reach their lowest point. The individual has become deeply introspective, perceiving patterns or structures in the issue, viewing it from a new perspective, or becoming conscious of their motivations and behavior. It is this profound personal insight that is essential for enabling the individual to create lasting and meaningful change.
The individual then moves on to the fifth stage, reframing. Using this newly gained insight, the individual considers the various possibilities available to them for dealing with the issue. As they do so, their external energy levels gradually begin to rise again.
The sixth and final stage, options, involves the individual weighing up each of these possibilities and selecting an appropriate course of action. External energy levels reach a peak when the individual is ready to implement these actions in order to deal with the issue.
Key Areas for Considersation
This model highlights some key areas for consideration for mentors and coaches. First, it illustrates the importance of guiding the client through the reflection and application stages of the learning cycle, especially those who are activists by preference. Individuals can only fully learn from an experience by understanding what they have learned from it and how they can apply the learning.
It also highlights the importance of creating a suitable environment for reflection, allowing sufficient time and space for individuals to channel their energy towards internal thought.
By understanding the stages of reflection and the natural changes in energy levels that accompany them, mentors and coaches can guide individuals effectively through the reflection process and help them to gain maximum learning from experiences or issues.
References[1] D Clutterbuck and D Megginson, ‘A Model of Personal Reflective Space’, in Mentoring Executives and Directors (Butterworth-Heinemann, 1999).
[2] See A Mumford, P Honey and G Robinson, Directors’ Development Guidebook: Making Experiences Count (Director Publications Ltd, 1989).
[3] See Clutterbuck and Megginson, as above.
