Resolved-and-Open Reflection
Bank settled lessons and focus reflection on the few questions still open
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~days to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 93%
Lampard describes reaching peace with most of a past experience while retaining a smaller unresolved portion for learning. The mechanism starts by judging preparation and decisions separately from the result: a win can conceal a mistake, while a loss can follow sound preparation. Decisions that still look defensible are mentally stored rather than repeatedly reopened. Attention then moves to the interactions, choices, or uncertainties that continue to niggle. Those are reviewed with a practical question: what should be handled differently next time? The percentages are illustrative, not a required calculation; Lampard says the open share might be much smaller than 30%. The value comes from narrowing reflection to actionable uncertainty, learning from it, and avoiding the mess of second-guessing everything.
Origin
Lampard explains how he reflects after leaving management roles, using a rough 70% settled and 30% unresolved split rather than revisiting every event.
Core principles
- 01Not every bad result proves the process was wrong
- 02Not every good result proves the process was right
- 03Settled judgments should be stored rather than endlessly retried
- 04Unresolved questions deserve focused examination
- 05Reflection should improve the next attempt rather than fuel rumination
How to run it
- 1
Separate process from result
Review what you prepared, decided, and controlled independently of whether the final outcome was favourable. Record where the score and the process tell different stories.
Pro tip Include both a win that hid a mistake and a loss in which preparation was sound.
Watch out Outcome bias can make lucky decisions look wise and sound decisions look foolish.
- 2
Bank the settled share
Identify the decisions and interactions you can defend after review. Treat them as closed unless new evidence appears.
Pro tip Write one sentence explaining why each major settled decision remains defensible.
Watch out Peace with a decision is not permission to ignore evidence or impact.
- 3
Name the open share
List only the choices or people interactions that still feel unresolved. Keep the list narrow enough to examine honestly.
Pro tip Use the issues that repeatedly return to mind as prompts, not as proof that you were wrong.
Watch out Do not force the open share to equal 30%; Lampard presents it as a rough illustration.
- 4
Extract the next action
For each open issue, decide what you would repeat, test, or handle differently in a comparable future situation. Make the lesson observable.
Pro tip Phrase the lesson as a behaviour you can use in your next role.
Watch out A review without a future action can become rumination.
- 5
Close the review
Store the useful lessons and stop reopening the experience when no new evidence or action remains. Return attention to present preparation.
Pro tip Set a final review date after which only new evidence reopens the issue.
Watch out Closure should not be used to avoid a conversation that another person still needs.
In the wild
Lampard says he has lost games and received outside criticism while remaining confident that his preparation was right. He can place that preparation in the settled share while still examining a substitution or interaction that may belong in the unresolved share.
→ The result is acknowledged without needlessly discarding every part of the process.
A team misses a launch target despite completing the agreed research and testing. The leader banks the evidence-gathering process, isolates a late handoff that remains questionable, and adds an earlier handoff rehearsal to the next launch plan.
→ One actionable change emerges without rewriting the entire project as a failure.
Common mistakes
Reviewing only the score
A result cannot show whether preparation and decisions were sound. Examine process and outcome separately.
Reopening everything
Treating every past choice as unresolved creates noise and weakens useful judgment. Bank what the evidence supports.
Reflecting without changing
Repeated thought is not learning unless it produces a specific future behaviour or a justified decision to close the issue.
Is it for you?
Best for
Leaders and performers reviewing a demanding role, project, match, or decision after the immediate emotion has eased.
Not ideal for
It is not suitable for avoiding accountability, suppressing unresolved harm, or assigning arbitrary percentages without examining evidence.
From the transcript
“you kind of can get probably 70% of them and lock them away”
“we've won a game and I know I got something wrong in the game”
“I've had games that we've lost and you get criticism from the outside and I know my prep was right”
From the episode
Frank Lampard Finally Speaks Out About What REALLY Happened At Chelsea (E264)