We Don’t Learn from Experience. We Learn from Reflecting on Experience
Long Read
If there’s one sentence I wish we could print on the back of every training evaluation form, it’s this:
“We don’t learn from experience. We learn from reflecting on experience.”
That’s not mine. It’s usually attributed to John Dewey, although, like most things in L&D, it’s been passed around so many times the edges have worn off. Still, the core idea remains, and it’s a big one.
Because if it’s true (and spoiler alert: it is), then a whole lot of what we call “learning” in the workplace is actually just doing, with no real pause to make sense of it. Which might explain why performance doesn’t always shift, even after someone’s “completed” the training.
Let’s talk about reflection. What it is, why it’s uncomfortable, and why, if we’re serious about real learning, we can’t afford to keep skipping it.
Doing ≠ Learning
We’ve all heard the phrase “learning by doing.” It’s become one of those truisms in L&D, often used to justify immersive training, simulations, or just throwing people into a task and hoping for the best. But the original theory, from Kolb’s Experiential Learning Cycle, makes it very clear: doing is only one part of learning.
Reflection is the next step. Without it, you don’t complete the cycle. You just spin your wheels.
David Kolb wasn’t just advocating for action. His model emphasises concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualisation, and active experimentation. Miss out that second step, the quiet, often awkward bit where we make sense of what just happened, and you’re not learning. You’re collecting experiences like fridge magnets. Nice to look at. Not particularly useful.
Donald Schön took it further in The Reflective Practitioner, showing how professionals develop real expertise not just through practice but by thinking critically about their practice both during (reflection-in-action) and after (reflection-on-action) the work itself.
Why reflection gets skipped
The short answer? Time.
The longer answer? Time, discomfort, and culture.
Reflection slows us down. And in many organisations, slowness is treated as inefficiency. We reward doing, actions, results, activity. Thinking doesn’t always make it into the dashboard.
It also requires vulnerability. To reflect well, you have to admit you don’t have it all figured out. You have to look at mistakes, muddles, and missed opportunities. That’s not easy in cultures where failure is quietly punished and “growth mindset” is something laminated in the hallway.
And then there’s the design issue. Most workplace training simply doesn’t make space for reflection. It’s all about content delivery. We move from objectives to modules to knowledge checks like we’re on a conveyor belt. Reflection? That’s for the end-of-course happy sheet. If it happens at all.
How we can make reflection part of the workflow?
This isn’t a call for everyone to start journaling in Moleskines and quoting Brene Brown in team meetings (though if that’s your thing, crack on). It’s about embedding reflection into the natural rhythm of work and learning.
Here are a few low-lift, high-impact ways to do it:
After-action reviews: A simple debrief after a project, a task, or even a meeting. What went well? What didn’t? What will we do differently next time? It doesn’t need to be formal. Just honest.
Guided prompts in training: Instead of just delivering content, ask learners: “What surprised you?”, “What would you try differently next week?”, “How does this connect to what you already do?”
Peer discussions: Encourage small group or pair reflections post-training. People often process better when they talk it through with someone else.
Manager check-ins: Not just “Did you finish the course?”, but “What’s one thing you’ve applied from it?”, “What’s still not clicking?”, “Where can I support you?”
Learning logs: Not elaborate portfolios, just space for a learner to jot down key insights or unanswered questions over time.
The goal isn’t introspection for its own sake. It’s meaning-making. Helping people spot patterns, question assumptions, and prepare to try again, but better.
Reflection is experimentation’s twin
Here’s the link back to what I care about most in this field: experimentation.
We experiment to learn what works. But unless we reflect on the outcomes, what happened, why, and what we’d do next time, we’re just running tests without learning from them.
Reflection is the human layer on top of the data. It helps us go from “What happened?” to “What matters?” to “What next?” That’s where the growth happens. That’s where insight lives.
In that sense, building a reflective habit across your team isn’t just good learning hygiene. It’s a key part of becoming a more experimental, responsive, and effective L&D function.
References
Dewey, J. (1933). How We Think: A Restatement of the Relation of Reflective Thinking to the Educative Process. D.C. Heath.
Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development. Prentice Hall.
Schön, D. A. (1983). The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action. Basic Books.