Why is a debrief required?  For one thing, where you've gone through a challenging and stressful experience, it helps ensure that learning occurs. It's what reflective people do.  It's how we get wisdom - by connecting the dots between actions and consequences.

We live in a way-too-busy, nonreflective culture and we reap the consequences of unwise decisions.  It's one reason we as a nation got in this economic mess and it's why so many people are way over their heads in debt. It's one of the main reasons our divorce rate is so high. It's why talented people never pursue their dreams, but get locked into careers that force them into ruts of mediocrity.

We need to debrief the day with our spouse, debrief a season of life with our families, and debrief a spiritual trauma with people who know God.  We need to ask questions like, "What happened?" "What does it mean?" and "What could I have done differently?" A debrief gives us a godly perspective.

So, what does a great debrief look like?  Venue is important. Get to a place where you can relax and let your hair down.  Trust is important. Let people with experience ask you questions about the decisions you made and what they mean.  If you're debriefing a month of hard living and ministry to orphans in the Mozambique bush, it looks something like the video above.