Using Critical Incident Analysis
The main idea. The CIA process helps you
to learn from any incident, whether it was
successful or unsuccessful.
You may learn best from the unsuccessful ones, but it's good to start with something that went well.
Activity for learning from a recent incident
Choose a small but vivid recent incident that stands out because it had a good result. (This activity works best if you talk it through with someone else. They can help you by probing a little. If you do it on your own, write it down - it helps you to fill out the picture and get the most from the activity.)
1. Describe the incident in as neutral a way as you can. Include when and where it happened, who said or did what, and what you were thinking and feeling at the time and just afterwards. Summarise what actually happened from just before the incident until the outcome
2. Reflect on the incident and deepen your understanding. Remind yourself why it stands out, what was going on for you and others. Notice what you and other people brought to the incident. Clarify what mainly led to the good outcomes.
3. What helped the good outcome to happen, and what was your part in that? if you could do it again, what could make the result even better? what would you do differently?
4. What resources did you bring to the situation in terms of skills, knowledge, experience, attitudes? How will you remember to apply these in other situations?
You can adapt this technique for reviewing incidents that didn't go so well, so that however badly it my have turned out you can take away some really useful learning.
Why this matters
Being able to learn effectively from your experience is an essential skill for a new manager. It can also change your ideas about "success" or "failure".
Another useful idea
Many successful people say that they learned more from their mistakes than their successes. What have you learned from a failure or a mistake?
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