The science

Our approach is unique, based in science, and it works.

Research proves that the highest performing teams have the highest collective intelligence. They work exponentially better together and have a seemingly magical ability to connect and solve problems. But it's not chemistry or magic. It's a set of five skills that help teams become greater (and smarter) than the sum of their parts. We use science to help companies build collective intelligence.

The Science of Connection

Unlock Collective Intelligence With These Five Skills

Listening with humility.
So many times we listen only to wait our turn to speak or to catch someone in a mistake. Listening is not a weapon but a powerful tool for real learning. Listening well, with genuine humility, enhances our capacity for innovation and drives collaboration.
Asking good and curious questions.
Good questions are not “gotcha” or test questions, they are curious questions driven by an authentic interest to learn because you genuinely want to hear the answer. Asking good questions unleashes new ideas by surfacing the hidden insights of others.
Challenging strongly held assumptions.
We all navigate the world with a set of beliefs and understandings born of our education, upbringing, and experience. But we become entrenched when we see the world only through the things we already know. By challenging our assumptions and suspending our “known truths,” we open our minds to others’ points of view and expand our mental models.
Disagreeing with respect and without retribution.
In the healthiest and most productive organizations, people feel empowered to speak up and offer alternative points of view. Positive disagreement is the bedrock of learning that cannot happen without psychological safety, grounded in trust and mutual regard.
Widening the circle of empathy.
Science confirms that despite our best intentions, we are most empathetic with people we already know or who look and feel like us. It’s much harder to be open to those we dislike or with whom we fundamentally disagree. By deepening our relationships and expanding our understanding, we widen the circle of empathy and naturally expand inclusion and belonging.

Shared stories power community. Community makes us smart.

The science of stories is powerful. Stories deepen our empathy, synchronize our heartbeats and help us make sense of the world. Because we share stories we do great things together. The human capacity for narrative is one of our greatest superpowers - setting us apart from all other species and from the machines we build.
Unlock your team's stories
Kwoon
by Charles Johnson
An experienced student challenges his young martial arts teacher at his kwoon in a rough urban neighborhood. This story raises issues of leadership and mentorship, how we can learn from the people we serve, how to recover from an exposure of weakness, and how to build trust with a disillusioned person.
The Hardware Man
By John O’Hara
A young man becomes the owner of a hardware store where he worked for many years. In growing the business, he sets a new standard of competition that forever changes his own store and the other local store in town—and arguably the town itself. The story tees up the balance between human effort and commercial success, explores styles of leadership and invites a discussion of business ethics and workplace culture.
REFLECTION POINT IN ACTION

It was eye-opening...

Ian was skeptical. A senior production supervisor of a Reflection Point client, he thought the value of the group discussion platform seemed tenuous. That changed after his first session. Now, he’s a vocal proponent. “It was an eye-opening experience,” he says. Ian sees the sessions as a “fantastic community-building experience that allows everyone to form more personal connections and gain a better understanding of the team as a whole.”
“Getting to talk to people at work about books can be so surprising. Sometimes when someone says something, it’s amazing what you learn. Once we get talking, it doesn’t matter who the managers are, either. When we talk about the books, we are all talking about the same thing. It's so interesting to see different outlooks.”
Keely Kellner
Advisor, Regulatory Management, National Manufacturer/Distributor