Getting better, where the work is
People grow by examining their own work with a guide — not by consuming generic training. AI-era work makes that review possible at last, right where the work happens.
Donald Schön described how skilled professionals actually improve: not by absorbing theory in a classroom, but by reflecting on their own work — both in the moment and after it — often with a coach who reviews the real artefact alongside them. The research on deliberate practice points the same way: gains come from focused review of your own performance with feedback, not from repetition alone.
“The practitioner allows himself to experience surprise, puzzlement, or confusion… he reflects on the phenomenon before him.”Donald Schön, The Reflective Practitioner (1983)
Most workplace learning ignores this — it ships generic courses disconnected from the work. AI-era work finally makes the better version possible: because so much of the work leaves a session trace, a coach can review what you actually did, with you, and run growth sessions on your real craft instead of a hypothetical one.
What to do on purpose
- Put the review where the work is — on the actual session, not a generic module.
- Pair self-directed reflection with programs a lead can assign, without the compliance-training dread.
- Use quizzes as self-checks the learner sees first, sharing up only by choice.
- Keep it developmental: the point is the person’s growth, on their terms.
This is CARE’s Reflection lens — an AI coach that reviews your sessions with you, protected by the same confidentiality that makes honest reflection possible in the first place.
Sources
- Donald A. Schön, The Reflective Practitioner (1983); K. Anders Ericsson et al. on deliberate practice (1993).