Best Colleagues in the World!

I have the best colleagues in the world. Yes, I do!

Last Friday, these precious peers were my critical friends who dedicated themselves to me, to my own growth and learning. They focused their attention and listened to my dilemma, discussed it, and offered me with suggestions and possible solutions. During that time, I felt safe and comfortable although I was stepping out of my comfort zone. The reason is probably the trust I have in every individual in the group. Their perspective and expertise is valuable and appreciated. Also, I am thankful and grateful for Dr. Burns who offered us with this experience. Further, to be honest, I was nervous a bit at the beginning, however, all this feeling had disappeared once I started talking and inviting them to watch my video.

So what happened? Actually, while writing this reflection, I’m looking at the experience as both a product and a process. By the end of the protocol, I realized that I had few solution options along with different perspectives that allowed me to see the dilemma from multiple angles. This enabled me to see new things through the eyes of my friends that I didn’t see before. Moreover, I felt supported and not alone as how I thought I was. Everyone was trying to understand the situation and offer help. This reminds me of my personal friends who I would call first thing when I need support. Critical friends are great friends!

Regarding the process, the experience reminded me of my 1st reflection in this semester and more specifically the idea of celebrating problems. Our conversations were truly about celebrating our problems that we invited others to join and we felt great at the end, what could be better than this? Regardless of the great suggestions offered, having this safe space to speak and “vent” is so helpful emotionally. At least I got to know that others have their dilemmas as well.

In addition, as Nolan and Hoover (2011) discussed, video-recordings could be a great data source that allows one to analyze his/her own practice. This is what I found after watching my interaction (words and gestures) in my attempt to handle a hidden conflict between both the intern and her CT, which was my dilemma. Further, I found that data like videos were helpful not only for me but for my critical friends as I noticed how they reacted to the part I recorded and knew exactly what I was trying to explain.

The takeaway I got from this experience is do not stay in your box trying to find solutions that are not solutions. Always invite new perspectives and share your thoughts with others, other experts in the field. If no assistance is offered, listening and sharing are by themselves part of the support we all need when dealing with work dilemmas.