Learn Your Lesson
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What is something you learned today? More importantly, how will you apply what you learned to your life in the future? This simple question is sometimes hard to answer especially in the midst of a hectic schedule. Who has time to bring up stuff that's already long since past?
At the same time, anyone reading this wouldn't deny that lessons learned are an important part of personal and professional development. However, many times leaders forego opportunities at the end of a project and miss out on improving the chance for a smoother implementation the next go-around.
Leaders understand that developing their teams using lessons learned is a simple way to build autonomy and ultimately strengthen the organization. Next time a project is completed, schedule 20 minutes with the team and ask these questions -
- What did we do right?
- What could have gone better?
- Knowing what we know now, how would we have done it differently?
I admit, this activity can feel a little hokey especially if it isn't a normal process in the organization. You may have to start with your own comments if there aren't any vocal volunteers, but once the conversation starts, I guarantee people will join in since they've already invested their energy to the project.
The most important part of this process is to ensure everyone feels it's a safe forum without penalties if something is brought up that didn't go well. After all, the project is over and the reason you're talking about it is so you can get better the next time - all good things!
This is the first step to creating a learning organization - it's a bit of a buzz term, but an organization committed to improving and growth must reflect in order to get better. Here are 6 ingredients that can be used in a learning organization to discover, create, and transfer knowledge and skills -
- Constantly search for new knowledge and ways to apply it (industry trends, new technology, education/training, and people)
- Review both successes and failures (yep, we can learn from those not-so-fun to talk about flubs)
- Benchmark and implement best practices
- Share lessons learned
- Reward innovation (this can be product or process based)
- Combine lessons learned with both experienced and new employees together (extremely valuable for succession planning and cross-training)
We certainly don't need to get hung-up on the past, but making it a point to take a few minutes and examine recent experiences allow us to move forward with intention.
Manning, G, & Curtis, K. (2012). The art of leadership. New York: McGraw-Hill