Get Reflection and Action In Sync
Hi Reader
We all have a bias in how we move from thinking into action. Some of us are reflective: planning, preparing and polishing. Others are proactive: moving fast and trusting we can tidy up later.
Both instincts are useful. But overplayed, each one creates its own kind of drag on momentum.
The work is to notice your bias and build a rhythm where thinking and doing strengthen each other.
The Pattern
I regularly see this with clients. Maybe it's the founder who's tweaking the plan they’ve already refined three times. Or the leader who made a quick decision, only to spend the next weeks fixing what could have been avoided.
Both behaviours can feel like progress to the owner. But underneath, neither delivers the outcomes that really matter.
Reflection, overplayed, drifts into over-analysis. Planning for events that may never happen. Or believing a risk will go away with more analysis. Meanwhile chances quietly slip by.
Action, overplayed, creates mess and rework that drain energy and can even erode trust. Moving too fast, we can miss the signals and higher-leverage opportunities that would have helped us move smarter.
The cost isn’t just lost momentum or rework. It’s the weight of knowing you’re busy, stretched even, but still not moving what matters. And if you work with others, they can feel it too – taking their cues from how you act.
Finding Balance
With my clients, we start by exploring their default patterns and understanding the impacts – both good and bad. And that awareness shapes our next move.
If someone’s bias is to reflect, we explore how they can act faster but still feel comfortable. That might mean setting a minimum clarity threshold – e.g. two facts they must know first and three assumptions they’ll test on the way – before moving to action. Or it might be capping research time before moving forward.
If the tendency is to act first and think later, we slow things down a little in the key moments. Writing a five‑line brief before starting can help get clear on the framing and outcome. Or for bigger one‑way calls, a strategic hour or two can avoid many challenges later.
As we find what works, we build it into a deliberate rhythm. Sometimes that’s a Monday checkpoint to name three outcomes and protect the time to move them. Sometimes it’s using our sessions as a fortnightly reflect‑and‑reset moment.
The principle is the same: balance reflection and action so decisions keep pace and actions carry weight.
And at team level, this rhythm of clear‑sighted reflection paired with sharp, focused action creates progress everyone can trust and build on together.
Where You Can Start
Think first about where your bias might be. Do you tend to linger in reflection, or jump quickly into action? Then choose a balancing action that helps you bring the other side into play.
The aim isn’t to suppress your natural style, but to let reflection and action work in sync – so you make faster progress on the right things, in the right way.
What immediate priority deserves a different rhythm, more reflective or proactive, than the one you’d usually choose?
Impactful growth is easier with the right support
→ If you’re ready to shape your strategic vision, create bigger opportunities, and meet them fully – that’s the work we do together in the Impact Accelerator. Find out more here.
→ And if you’re scaling something larger, let’s chat about how I can help you align strategy and execution to get results. Just hit reply.
Stay ambitious.
Rob
Was this forwarded to you? Sign up to Ignition Point
Sparked Ambition Ltd | linkedin.com/in/robstubbs