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The demand for continuous learning is a central demand on sales professionals today. Beyond an accelerated market pace we face a shift in how to build competence. In the past our learning often came from others, via instructor led classes and web based classes as the primary vehicles.  Today we need to pay attention how we can create deeper insights from our daily on-the-job experiences. Not just by doing the job but reflecting and learning with new techniques. The fundamentals behind Extreme Reflections are developed by Peder Linder at Linder Academy who deserves the credits for innovative thinking in this field.

The best insights come from today’s experiences

The most valuable insights in a fast moving world are the new insights gained today. You challenge yourself daily or weekly to try new things. You try new things to gain new experiences. If the things are new to you, but others have done them before you, you can start by leveraging existing insights.

If the things are novel to your organization or even new to the broader market place you are on to something exciting. In such environments your efforts will be generating unique insights and learnings. This type of opportunities is what an organization aim for as the soil for building its best insights. expect these insights to the the source of your competitiveness tomorrow.

Extreme reflections around real experiences

We all gain new experiences as we take on new tasks. But we not always reflect on what we just learned. By increasing your awareness and hunger for new learning you will see more opportunities around you. The idea behind extreme reflections is to make you think hard about what you just have experienced, and to do it with a regular cadence. Reflect on what was your toughest task during the day. Reflect on what made it hard and which obstacles you did run into. Reflect on how you dealt with the obstacles and what the result became.

There are two different paths to gaining insights. Either from what someone else has done and what you have experienced on your own. What you have gone through yourself has stronger emotions and feelings you can leverage in the future. Take the opportunity to think deep on what you just did. This extreme type of reflections take energy but generate better results.

Train your brain to deliver better outcomes

We can train our brain to deliver better outcomes. The more we see of different situations, actions we take and the outcome we generate the better we can become. It is possible to train the brain to deliver better outcomes in a consistent way. Extreme reflection intend to deliver such improvements in outcomes.

Extreme reflections applied to sales challenges

One of the most interesting fields where you can apply extreme reflections is the area of sales pursuits. As sales people we face challenges with more and more complex sales situations. Part of the challenges represents an obstacle for progress.  Others are opportunities to learn from and make progress faster than competition.

These situations are great opportunities to reflect upon and learn from. And for front running sales teams a great source of innovative insights. The technique is suitable for technology, project as well as business driven experiences.

Good questions to work with to up your reflection game 

Extreme reflections leverage simple questions. In the beginning you are likely to need someone who ask you the questions and support you in your reflection process. When you are experienced you can be your own coach.  These questions can take you far down the road.

1. Which near term goals should I pursue next that I can learn from – let your near term prioritizes your fields of learning.
2. Have I set the ambition high enough – without challenges and obstacles you are not likely to learn as much as you have potential to do.
3. What important insights have I gained from recent tasks – build from your own recent job activities
4. How can these insights help me in the future – reflections on how your current insights may be relevant in the future.
5. Who else could leverage the insights I just gained – as a learner at the fore front other parts of your team could be eager to learn from you
6. How could I generate a better result if I got same task tomorrow – your first attempt might not be the best but allow you to make it even better tomorrow.

Additional reading suggestions

• Reflection is the most important part of the learning process [BLOGPOST] – by Tanner Christensen, 99U
• Learning by thinking: How reflection improves performance – by Harvard Business Review
• How to upgrade your brain through extreme reflection [BLOGPOST] – by Peder Burenstam Linder, Linder Academy
• The 10 strategy tenets for developing a customer driven work force [BLOGPOST] – Stephanie Edwards, MyCustomer
• An Intrapreneur’s best contribution is customer led innovation [BLOGPOST] – Larry Myler, Forbes