What could we do differently?

Here’s a quote I like from Peter Senge:

“Effective leaders know that it is tempting to say this is how we did it over there and it worked. So we should follow the same rules here. But ‘here’ and ‘there’ are never identical and even small changes can alter the outcome of so-called ‘tried and tested’ formulas. If you have ever worked for a manager who knows exactly how things should be done, you know what I mean. He or she is trapped in a futile struggle to make today’s reality fit yesterday’s answers, and everyone suffers as a consequence.”

So how to avoid being trapped into applying yesterday’s solutions to today’s problems?

One way that works for me is to sit down with myself every two months or so and reflect on what I’m doing and how I'm doing it. I always ask myself the question what could I do differently?