To learn from the past we first need to record the past

Like me, are you searching for the secret ingredient to life, the universe and everything? While we may never find the answer to this question a good starting point is to understand the past, so we can learn from it.

By learning from the past, we can become effective project managers in the present and do so in hours, days and weeks and not years. We can achieve this effectiveness through learning from the past via the lessons learned from past projects.

First an organization needs to record the past. For project management the past can be recorded in a Database of Lessons Learned (DLL).

To understand what is a Database of Lessons Learned you need to first picture a place where all the challenges the organization has faced and beaten (or not) have been recorded for all to read and learn from. This sounds almost mythical, but this can be real. This database would be a useful instrument for saving time, money and energy.

DLL gives the organization a window to the past as it records what went well, what went badly, what could have been done better and what recommendations there are for future projects.

What went well

By recording what went well the project team has the opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate their successes. In my experience a project team moves on too quickly from their successes. For example, when the team resolved a particularly challenging issue or delivered a project on time and under budget the team does not stop and take a moment to realize what and amazing job they have done.

By recording and promoting what went well the project manager can promote positivity and a sense of accomplishment in an organization. In my experience, senior managers are only informed of problems and are not informed when projects go well. So, I created “positive escalations’’, where I inform senior managers when their team members do something exceptional or when a project has achieved something special.

I have found that senior managers like these ‘’positive escalations’’ as it gives some sunshine into their day. As they spend their days dealing with problems and so I give them some positive news. Positive escalations have the added bonus of the project team member(s) praised receiving acknowledgement and positive attention that can help with their career.

‘’Positive escalations’’ are habit building as positive behavior is acknowledge and recognized so it is worth while for it to be repeated. In my experience people do not continually go above and beyond if there is no recognition. In my view it is rare for people to continually work long hours or take on challenging tasks if no one appreciates or acknowledges what is achieved.

What went badly

When recording what went badly it is important to not use this exercise to only complain and blame others. It is important to acknowledge where responsibility for a problem or failing lies in the same way it is important to acknowledge the responsibility for a success.

It is easy to take credit for success and easy to ignore failings. Normally the best lessons I have learned are from failures. Either my own failures or by observing the failures of others.

Therefore, by identifying what went badly the project has the opportunity to help themselves and the organization take something positive from a failure.

When acknowledging and recording what went badly it is important that the project manager is honest and does not spin a failure or play down its impact. If the true extent of a failure is not recognized, then other projects will likely repeat the same failure.

It is hard to not use the lessons learned as a way of scoring points against colleagues and managers by blaming everyone else for the project failures and not understanding why something went wrong.

Here it is not the time to play the victim but the hero.

Yes, something went wrong and in hindsight with perfect information a different decision would have been made. But in the moment based on the information available a decision was made. It is easy to not make a decision and to say that more time and information is needed. But it is not possible to always have perfect information or enough time. This is where leadership has to come in. If the risks of a decision are known and the downside can be managed or removed, then the project needs to move forward. In the end if the decision resulted in a failure then the lessons learned is the opportunity to make sure the same mistake is not repeated.

What could have been done better

Here the organization can focus on the benefits of knowing on what went badly in a project. Here the project team can use hindsight and perfect information to discuss what they would have done better based on what they know now. Again, this is not the time to place blame but to acknowledge the tough situation the project team faced.

When analyzing what could have been done better the project manager does not only focus on the negatives but the positives. Yes, an activity in the project went well but could it have gone even better? Could the positive results have been even greater? By understanding what could have been done better the project team and organization can make recommendations for future projects.

What recommendations there are for future projects

Here is the opportunity to create ‘’best practice’’. By recording and analyzing what went well, what went badly and what could have been done better an organization created guides for how to achieve their objectives. As the phrase go, ‘’every project is not meant to reinvent the wheel’’. If the answer to a question, issue, risk etc has already been found by the organization then this answer has to be shared. Or every project that encounters the same situation will have to spend time and effort working out how to solve it. As a result of every project working on solving the same issue, ever project will go over budget or not deliver the benefits the project was created to deliver.

The identification and analyzes of ‘’best practice’’ of what worked best to achieve the desired end result is especially valuable in the implementation of a service or product where the same end result is expected each time (e.g. a car, house, boat, SAAS, payroll etc).

Summary

In summary, the Database of Lessons Learned is like a time machine that allows you to travel back in time and understand how history shaped the present. As the DLL allows you to ask questions about the past. By understanding what came before we are able to be better prepared to take advantage of what comes next.

So now we have an understanding of what they are. Now we need to understand why we may not have seen them where we work.