Debriefing

Years ago, snowboard guide and friend Chris Coulter mentioned debriefing is one of the most important things you can do. Even on the days when everything goes exactly as planned, he addressed the importance of still trying to look back and reflect on the day. He mentioned recognizing decisions you made that might not have been the best, even if nothing went wrong and there wasn’t an accident. The debrief after a day in the mountains allowed you to learn and grow for the next time you were out.

While Chris was specifically talking about snowboarding, and traveling in avalanche terrain, I’ve implemented it in both my days out in the mountains, but also when I’m driving home from a shoot, and just running through how the day went.

Recently I downloaded a spec shoot planner from Jake Dyson, built around the concept of producing and creating spec shoots to grow your portfolio. At the end of this planner there is a section on this same concept of debriefing and writing down: What Worked, What Didn’t Work, and What You’d Do Differently. 

It was an important reminder of the importance of this practice, to both recognize mistakes, but also to recognize what did work, so you can push your craft forward.