Aims and Objectives
To advance education for the public benefit in the field of reflection, critical thinking, contemplative practice, philosophical self-inquiry, and related disciplines, and to promote mental wellbeing by providing accessible programmes, publications and, in time, workshops and community activities.
Introduction
Reflection, of course, goes on all the time. Given that we all do it, the purpose here is to make it better and better. Results flow from it and the goal is the achieve the best results.
Stories, apocryphal and actual, abound. By way of example, a successful businesswoman attributed a goodly portion of her success to the simple expedient of allocating half an hour of the morning free of noise, chatter and a hail of distractions so as to contemplate her agenda in all its aspects, hopes, tactics or strategy needed for the day and in the long-term. Space is given to harken to the voice of your own subconscious, the real you. Direction is all.
This ‘institute’ is of the mind, designed for a humanity common to all creeds, genders and races. That said, it is tethered to the UK. It is a culture where we tend to prefer philosophy over spirituality, avoiding much that feels too obviously ‘Self-help Guru’. NB The faddish may disagree but, please note, disagreement is to be welcomed; this institute is food for thought not Holy Writ. Thinking for oneself matters. Intellectual depth is a lodestar even if we do not make a tutelary god out of it. Gone are the days where an Englishman gloried in being philistine and went in for ‘unconscious cerebration’ usually when out riding his horse. There yet remains a residue of this in what it is acceptable to own up to. Philosophical grounding without dogma is persuasive in the UK. There is a cultural appetite for quiet sophistication. Truth be told, there is beneath a façade to which we do not normally give thought a taste for the intellectually curious. It is a mind-set that does not often speak its name.
The preferred tone of this visceral institute is one of being grounded, practical, thoughtful; it is understated rather than hyped-up. Hyperbole is for advertising puffs.
How to get what we need! Our aim is for the permanent, the far-reaching. The prescribed approach should permeate the thinking of executives.
Then there is a strain of gentle humour which the Englishman enjoys even if it perplexes others. We don’t make a big thing about it. Given this facet of our national character, it is hoped that the occasional interposition of a cartoon or whimsy into institute texts will be forgiven.
REFLECTIVE PRACTICE And BETTER DECISION MAKING FOR EXECUTIVES
How to Reflect properly for decision-making is the gold standard; to corral attention and silence in an environment that promotes the ability to manage intrusive thoughts.
It is designed for real-world professionals. They react well to a strong written and conceptual foundation.
The Core Principles are clarity, slowness, interiority. Reflection makes for: Better decisions; Reduced impulsivity; Higher clarity and improved communication.
Our Method: Philosophy, psychology, Decision science, introspection, all with a leavening of calm deliberate thinking. Think as deeply as needed while not jumping the gun in over-rapid reaction. It is a different concept than simply being flexed for celerity of thought. You are not a cat on a scalding tin roof.
No building can be erected without first putting in place the right scaffolding. Thoughts matter. Thought-through frameworks for the right-decisions matter from the word ‘go’.
Reflective practice needs to be understood rather than taken-as-read. Acquaintance with its principles Include a basic understanding of Western traditions of Reflection, its origins in the ancient Greek and Roman thought. There are differences from Eastern Meditation, and good reasons why Occidental Meditation – once its underlying principles are understood – fills a modern gap
BURNOUT PREVENTION
Burnout is rising in UK workplaces. Decision-fatique costs productivity. Leaders lack time for deep thinking. Natural impulsiveness, anxiousness for quick results have their in-built perils. When it comes to burnout, what applies in situations of stress and resultant too-impulsive decisions or disgruntled apathy applies in spades. A key reason why Reflection counteracts the Burnout of which so many executives increasingly complain is simple: it reduces stress levels. Everyone is happier, the results are better, when the burn is damped.
Overload of work inducing reactive decisions detracts from an ability to think through the consequences of actions. It is much the same in politics where a gung-ho, ‘reach for your gun’ approach may yield short-term advantage much as did the shoot-out at the OK Corral. But imagine a scenario where it is the baddies have what it takes to outdraw the good guys.
What counts at the end of the day is ‘The day after’. Time and tide lie in wait to engulf us.
At the end of the day, or many days, rational calmness can be prone to be scattered to the four winds due to the heavy pressure of immediate circumstance and happenings, admit it, so many of these are not germaine to accomplishment of what is crux. Any footballer worth his salt knows that it is essential to keep one’s eye on the ball. A constrain refrain in one’s head induced by habit, practice and repetition ensures that the end result is never lost from sight. You do not have to make a bee-line for the psychiatrists’ couch or wallow in loss of energy. your motivation blotted out. Harness the ‘Get Up And Go’ that you know is within you if temporarily under wraps to get to where you and your company need to be and, in the process, enjoy trouncing the ghouls in your head and the battalions of the hostile out to get you. Do not flesh out the hobgoblins. Battling them takes planning. Admit that you know that you can do it.
LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
Thinking through problems rather than jumping aboard bandwagons is one of the marks of a leader in the field and what is true for an individual holds good for the business community.
Reflection in the right spirit strengthens resilient, grounded leadership. Reflective leadership skills are there for the asking though have to be asked for.
Teams, if unduly pressured are prone to get lost so point them in the right direction. Inspire them and do no leave empathy and communication skill in the boudoir or pub.
So many components to being a good leader that the temptation is often to overlook one or two aspects of the required attitude. There may be only a narrow bandwidth of error but it is a given that any one area that is neglected can in time assume a predominant place in the overall scheme of things and ultimately increase in potential destructiveness. In military orthodoxy, the general who can inspire his troops to act for reasons they understand as opposed to blindly following orders is more likely to get empowering action on the part of his troops. They know why they doing what they are doing. Napoleon knew what he was about when he addressed individual troops by name. The attitude behind this simple step is what needs to be understood.
ESG & ETHICAL DECISION MAKING
Enhanced ethical awareness are important for public sector.
The process of sitting back and considering what one wants out of life, what one would like to say about one’s career and achievements at the end of one’s day, and, not least, why one is on the earth in the first place, are all considerations that lead towards right-mindedness.
There is in each of us a bedrock of right-thinking, an infallible guide towards the light and the right; it is one prone to neglect in the hot pursuit of mammon or plaudits from the herd. But at the end of the day it is a truism that honesty can be the best policy especially when at the end of the day the venality or disdain for the considerations of others, and the community, can stand revealed in all its tawdry rags. We can all have feet of clay but our heart and brain are what distinguish us when all is said and done. Too often nowadays we see the failure of ethical thinking illuminated and then…down comes the careful edifice you have constructed.