| If you've ever heard the expression, "Looking | | | | -- If you found components that were supposed |
| back, knowing what we know now, we'd surely | | | | to work together but didn't, and someone |
| have done things differently" -- that's | | | | found a solution or a workaround, record that |
| usually a sign that there were unanticipated | | | | information to help people prevent or solve |
| events or circumstances that came back to | | | | similar dilemmas in the future. |
| bite, haunt, or baffle the participants of a | | | | |
| particular project or undertaking. | | | | Lessons learned can produce benefits in many |
| | | | areas. You can use your repository of lessons |
| Even if the circumstances were difficult at | | | | learned to help your customer service or |
| the time, the good news is that astute | | | | technical support personnel solve problems in |
| observers can later extract valuable gems of | | | | a just-in-time fashion, for example. If your |
| wisdom from the experience, which they can | | | | staff or colleagues need to address complex |
| then apply to their greatest advantage going | | | | issues on the fly, or troubleshoot technical |
| forward. | | | | issues quickly over the telephone, they would |
| | | | need fast access to solutions for similar |
| 20:20 Hindsight = "Lessons Learned" | | | | situations that were addressed in the past. |
| | | | |
| "Lessons learned" are the perfect 20:20 | | | | 20:20 Foresight = "Best Practices" |
| hindsight that we frequently have after | | | | |
| completing a project or endeavor. This | | | | After capturing a series of lessons learned, |
| hindsight is worth its weight in gold if we | | | | the next step is to derive what's called |
| mine its special value, but it's absolutely | | | | "best practices." What is a best practice? |
| worthless if we don't make use of what it has | | | | It's a procedure or method that over time has |
| to offer. | | | | proven itself to be better than any other |
| | | | procedures or methods that you were using to |
| When capturing lessons learned, we want to | | | | do the same thing. You could say that it's |
| identify what went well, what didn't go well, | | | | the very best way that you, your group, or |
| and why. At this point, you might be | | | | your organization has found of doing |
| thinking, "What kind of reason can I give to | | | | something. |
| my team that we should be doing this? It | | | | |
| sounds like a bunch of bureaucratic overhead | | | | Why do they matter? Best practices are |
| and more things to do. Once the project's | | | | invaluable because they're the intellectual |
| finished, we're hoping to focus our attention | | | | assets -- the "secret sauce" -- that can help |
| on something else!" | | | | organizations remain highly competitive. The |
| | | | ideal approach is to standardize best |
| The value lies in paving the way for future | | | | practices so the entire organization follows |
| projects, so they will experience fewer | | | | them. You could incorporate them into |
| headaches and setbacks. You don't, however, | | | | policies, procedures, and/or online task |
| need to wait until the entire project | | | | support systems. |
| finishes. You could capture 20:20 hindsight | | | | |
| incrementally throughout the project, or very | | | | One idea is to design a best practice |
| soon after it's over, while the issues are | | | | repository that other people can access |
| still fresh. | | | | easily. You don't want that valuable |
| | | | information to be buried in a file cabinet |
| What Lessons Should You Capture? | | | | that no one knows anything about. The storage |
| | | | area could be in a database, on a Web site, |
| For any problems that went largely | | | | or another highly visible electronic or |
| unresolved, for instance, consider | | | | physical location. |
| preventative measures that could help people | | | | |
| work through or avoid the problems in the | | | | Best practice repositories can substantially |
| future. | | | | reduce the negative effects of attrition on |
| | | | the company's intellectual assets, which can |
| Those measures might involve tools to speed | | | | be devastating. When people leave because |
| up the work, checklists to make sure people | | | | they quit, retire, are laid off, or were |
| don't skip important steps, and solutions for | | | | simply temporary contractors to begin with, |
| thorny problems. Examples: | | | | the company's "brain trust" completely |
| | | | vanishes out the door with them unless their |
| -- If people were stymied by complex document | | | | knowledge is being captured and made |
| formats, try preparing and pre-testing some | | | | available to others. |
| document templates that will be much easier | | | | |
| to use next time. | | | | In conclusion, by capturing 20:20 hindsight |
| | | | incrementally and turning it into 20:20 |
| -- If quality was a issue because people | | | | foresight, you will achieve far greater |
| didn't do thorough testing, try creating | | | | long-term success than by blissfully ignoring |
| step-by-step checklists to guide people | | | | or forgetting problems, or by simply moving |
| through the process next time. | | | | on when a project or endeavor ends. |
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