ABSTRACT
This chapter provides the enormous value of reflection in helping accelerate learning across the organization. The human brain contains about 100 billion neurons. Every time we learn something new, we create a new neural connection in the brain. To convert new knowledge into skill, we need to practice. Every time we practice, a matter called myelin wraps around the circuit helping increase the strength, speed, and accuracy of this signal. Scientists had known about myelin for a long time before they discovered its role in skill building. Keep firing the circuit, and the thickening layer of myelin will make sure one to get progressively better at executing the new skill. Plan-Do-Check-Adjust-based practice is a cyclical progression through four steps: setting the target, practicing, pause and reflect, and making adjustments as needed. Electric signals travel through neural circuits with a lightning-fast speed, which explains why learning something new on a cognitive level usually doesn’t take a long time.
