It is often said that people learn from their own experiences. However, as accurately stated on this startup’s website: “We don’t learn by simply having new experiences. We learn when we reflect on them.” Therefore, they have created a platform designed to help university students reflect and understand themselves during their professional education process. The key feature of this approach is its potential for much broader application.
Project Essence
It is often said that people learn from their own experiences. However, as accurately stated on the header of today’s startup’s website: “We don’t learn from experience. We learn by reflecting on experience.”
In text of the quote, the word “reflection” is used, which refers to a person’s ability to notice their thoughts, feelings, and emotions, analyze their behavior and past experiences.
Rflect is an app designed for reflection. It is specifically created for university students. The startup believes that there’s a problem in higher education – universities teach students their future professions but do not focus on their development as individuals.
A university graduate should be more than just a “walking textbook”. They should be a well-rounded individual who wants to continue developing, capable of setting life goals, taking responsibility for achieving them, able to work in a team, and possessing all other human qualities that distinguish an adult from an immature adult-child.
In this regard, the startup differentiates between “horizontal” and “vertical” development:
Horizontal development, according to Rflect, is the acquisition of professional skills such as programming, marketing, or something else. Vertical development is expanding consciousness, altering how a person perceives the world, themselves, and others. It essentially involves understanding the “mental models” that help a person adapt to reality, maintain self-confidence, effectively interact with others, and solve complex life problems. Thus, universities primarily focus on students’ horizontal development. Rflect, however, enables them to also engage in vertical development.
Vertical development of students through Rflect is not a separate self-development course. Students continue to learn in their regular courses, while Rflect periodically asks them pertinent questions, allowing them to be conscious of what happens to them during the learning process, giving them a chance to reflect and discuss these changes.
It’s crucial that reflection doesn’t turn into abstract thinking and idle talk. Therefore, a fundamental part of Rflect’s approach is that their app also encourages students to take specific actions that reinforce the mental models forming in their minds.
The results of these actions, in turn, also require awareness and reflection. This creates an endless cycle of personal development, which first needs to be initiated, supported, turned into a habit, and then it will continue throughout life.
Rflect utilizes three mechanics:
Self-reflection. The app periodically asks the student questions that prompt them to think about the experiences they gain in the course of professional training. These questions can vary depending on the life goal each student sets for themselves. Coaching. The app allows connecting with experts or other students to share observations and conclusions, or to listen to others to help them understand themselves. Challenges. Apart from questions, the app sets challenges for students, requiring them to take action to turn observations and conclusions into concrete actions.
The startup’s platform is still in the early stages, but already 12 Swiss universities, where the startup originates from, have joined their pilot program. As a result, Rflect has raised an initial investment of 550,000 Swiss francs (approximately $629,000 USD).
Interesting Aspects
The general idea of the startup is very much life-relevant and noble. Indeed, most university graduates are completely unprepared for adult life. Some manage to catch up by going through the “university of life” after graduating from a regular university. But some never manage to do this, as no one taught them to be self-aware and reflective.
Ideally, such a program should be implemented not only in universities but also in schools. Firstly, because not all school graduates go to universities, yet everyone needs the skill of reflection. Secondly, by the time they enter university, it may be too late to teach them to reflect, as a person’s character is largely formed from the age of 12 to 16 😔
It’s great that Rflect is not a separate self-development course, as it’s impossible to develop oneself “in a vacuum”. Self-development is only possible through meaningful activity.
Studying something is also an activity. It’s no coincidence that the traditional method of learning Eastern martial arts always combines physical training with spiritual exercises and personal development. A true martial arts master is not just someone who can fight but someone who can defend a life stance even with fists 😉
From a business perspective, it’s strange that the founders of Rflect haven’t incorporated AI, or at least aren’t flaunting it. An AI coach for self-reflection would have been very apt here. At least it’s trendy. Although in reality, such an AI coach would become a much more powerful and flexible conversational partner for self-reflection than a set of ready-made questions from a catalog, as it is now implemented in Rflect.
Generally, AI coaches are emerging in very different areas. Here are just a few recent examples:
Siro, which I wrote about in October, made an AI coach for salespeople.
Meeno, which I wrote about in September, created an AI coach (“mentor”) for personal relationships.
Keeper, which I wrote about in November, is testing an AI coach for serious dating. In most cases, an AI coach is understood as an AI assistant capable of answering questions and issuing instructions for possible actions in various situations. So, essentially, they are not coaches but smart directories where you can quickly look up answers to your questions.
Coaching, in the true sense of the word, is unimaginable without reflection – when a person essentially teaches themselves, and a coach only guides them. Socrates, who said: “I cannot teach anybody anything. I can only make them think.” can be considered a coach 😉
I wrote about this approach in a review of the startup Sizzle, which made an AI assistant (AI coach?) for solving homework. Their app’s feature is that it doesn’t give students the answer to a problem but only suggests steps that help the student solve the problem independently.
Possible Directions
to Move The first thought that comes to mind is to create an analogue of Rflect – but for schools and schoolchildren. Following the same scheme of combining learning reflection with the school curriculum, but adding an AI coach 😉 Considering that there are more schoolchildren than university students, and parents are more concerned about educating school-age children than about educating grown-up fools – the potential market here might be even wider.
Another possible direction is to create an analogue of Rflect (with an AI coach, of course) that could be connected to any professional online education platforms. Given that education is becoming “continuous,” and people are forced to learn all their lives to stay up-to-date, why limit the target market to only university education?
The third option is an analogue of Rflect with an AI coach that could be connected to corporate education platforms. This direction is relevant because professional education within a company is inseparably linked to the task of career advancement. And career advancement is impossible solely through the development of professional skills. It’s also necessary to develop oneself as a team member and a leader – for which one needs to be able to reflect.
The key is not to create a separate AI coach for reflection that would “hang in the air” and not be tied to any meaningful activity. This would be not useful reflection but pointless self-absorption.