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"The problem is that too many 'lessons learned' programmes fail. Without falling into the trap of sweeping generalisations, I would suggest that more often than not the story itself is the problem; they just aren't interesting enough; they are shallow; they lack the richness that is needed to engage the intended audience; and they lack a structure that reflects the way adults learn. And that is the bottom line, all too often they just don't work in relation to the ways in which adults learn - I would argue in the vast majority of practice that there is actually little or no consideration for the the target audience of a lesson learned (the adult as a learner)."

The baton passing technique is a fast method for sharing, identifying high-impact lessons and gaining personal commitment to action. Baton passing can either be 'fast' - when based on clear lesson-themes - or 'slow' and more detailed when connected to a specific business process involving complex issues

KIN has long stressed the importance of learning from failure. In this short, funny and revealing post, David D'Souza publicly shares his experience of what not to do in a TV interview. His post uses humour, it's punchy (note the bullet points) and is in the first-person. I doubt I'll ever be on TV, but everyone could immediately relate to and learn from this. Now that's real learning from failure - the antithesis of a dry 'lessons learned' report.

The After Action Review (AAR) is a simple tool pioneered by the US army which is now widely used in organisations to capture lessons learned. It is a structured review after an activity or stage in a project, including handover or close, that analyses what happened, why it happened, and how it can be done better. The key to successful AAR's is that it helps you turn mistakes and poor performance into learning opportunities.

"'lessons learned' video from the national knowledge market held in in Liverpool late 2008 by Sellafield, on behalf of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority."

This technique is a way of gathering lessons learnt by encouraging project teams to talk about their experiences through stories. It builds and makes full use of this natural way in which we learn from each other and gain understanding about everyday life situations through storytelling

"The focus of 'Mirror' is the creation of an easily used set of applications ('Mirror' apps), that enable employees to learn lessons from their own and others experiences to perform better in the future. The project facilitates learning 'on the job', at the workplace, through collaboration and reflection technologies."

Mentioned at several KIN events including the Lessons Learned RoundTable

KIN Winter workshop is on "Learning from Failure". Great FT.com article

"Video of the national knowledge market held in in Liverpool late 2008 by Sellafield, on behalf of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority. Also see the accompanying 'lessons learned' video."

Chris Collison explores some of the myths and realities of how organisations learn.