I work as a consultant, which is to say I'm in sales. I take C-level meetings with mid to large sized businesses on a weekly basis. One thing I do, which could be applied to most any undertaking is a self critique. When I leave a meeting I will intentionally reflect on the things I did well as well as the things I could improve upon. If things went well I ask myself "why" did they go well. I access how much of the talking I did, did I ask the right questions, why were they the right questions etc.
I've been through thousands of hours of training over the years to become better at my chosen profession. This actually ties in nicely to the conversation b_b, geneusutwerk and AlderaanDuran are having here. My college education has almost nothing to do with my successes. Nor has anyone in my organization ever asked me where I went to school. They do ask me if I hit my growth metrics for the month/year etc. For the most part in business, nobody cares where you went to school but they do care whether or not you are capable. There's a saying in sales, "You're as good as your numbers". -The numbers don't lie... and they certainly don't care where you went to school.
I also work as a consultant but for a very tiny firm (12 employees total including the two co-owners) dealing with a very niche issue. During my time here I've seen the exact opposite of what thenewgreen is talking about and how much it fails.
No one here tries to think critically about what happened with a client, why we got it or why we didn't (well not beyond "another consultant firm stole em"). Because of this the firm has basically stagnated it seems. We have meetings where everyone just tries to brag about what they are doing and nothing is gained.
The only time we've though self critically is when we lost a bunch of hires (either because they were fired or left). The owner finally made people think about what happened in the hiring procedure and why we didn't get anyone new. This has helped a little but not a lot, because it was only a blip.
Pardon all this rambling, but the gist of what I'm saying here is that thenewgreen is right, one has to analyze what happened. Don't let failure drag you down because you are analyzing it, try to learn from it instead.
Yes, self-critique is, I think, one of the most important tools for improving on something. I also like that you touched on talking time. In my previous field, TEFL, it was called Teacher Talking Time (TTT) and learning to manage that to one's advantage was hugely helpful in teaching and has proven to be helpful in general.
But back to self-critique. This is, in and of itself a skill, no? Very often, I have seen people shy away from self-critique because their expectations are set too high, as in, they judge themselves too harshly. In the interest of further discussion, can you or geneusutwerk comment on how you've improved your skill of self-critique?
I literally just got off of a phone call with a prospective client. After the phone call I assessed what I did right and wrong. Is it a skill to self assess? Sure it is. But that skill begins with the simple action of doing. After you partake in something you wish to become better at, force yourself to reflect. Do it.
I was happy with how this call went. Honestly, I don't think I would change anything. At this point the exercise becomes assessing why the call went well. Once you can determine positive behaviors/actions you can replicate them when the time comes again. -this may all seem "obvious", but most people don't do this and rely on chance, natural ability and dumb luck. I create my own luck.
Gosh...I sound like Tony Robbins.
I'm going to be honest, this is not something that I am that good at, but perhaps thenewgreen can help.
One thing I have been doing recently is working on is mindfulness which I think helps you to look at your self without being critical of your self.