Knowledge Assets (or, how to enjoy a pint in the sunshine a little bit quicker)

Edington is a lovely Wiltshire village tucked into the northern edge of Salisbury Plain.  It’s famed for its old and beautiful Priory Church and now has a very popular pub and farm shop, frequented by locals and visitors alike.

Two weeks ago, Edington held its annual summer fair and I helped with some of the setting up on the night before the fair.  There were 5 or 6 marquees of varying sizes that needed to be put up and about 16 of us grappling with them with varying levels of success.  The plan had been to get them erected as soon as possible and then enjoy a pint or two in the warm evening sunshine.

Unfortunately, it soon became clear that few of us were familiar with the marquees and those that were clearly hadn’t struggled with them since the last summer fair.  On asking if anyone really knew what they were doing, I was told, “No, unfortunately the people that really know how to do this are away on holiday.”

‘Long’ and ‘short’ poles differed only by a few centimetres in length and were not marked in any way help us tell which belonged in the ‘spine’ of the marquee (the short ones) and which were the supports (the long!).

Consequently, we had several unsuccessful attempts, with canvas being stretched almost to breaking point and a good old pointless thwack here and there, to try and make things fit in ways for which they weren’t designed – all the time observed by a happy few sitting in the sunshine, supping their drinks and occasionally calling out ‘suggestions’ of dubious relevance.

Still, we got there in the end and, before putting the canvas on, I took a few photos of the marquee frame and its component parts.  My plan is to use the photos in a one-page ‘how to’ guide, which we can laminate and pop into each of the marquee boxes, ready for next year.

Such a document would be a form of 'Knowledge Asset', the purpose of which is to provide the means by which one team or person can transfer their knowledge to many teams or people, separated in time and distance.  At Knoco, we help clients produce Knowledge Assets, which minimise the risk of the critical knowledge being stuck in the heads of one or two vital people who might resign, retire or fall under a bus at any time – or, in our case, simply go away on holiday at an inconvenient moment.

Knowledge Assets help clients to work more safely, more quickly and more cheaply – or, in our case, will help us get to the pub a bit quicker next year.  Nice one.

Life of a lesson #10: post-closure assurance - did we do it right? Any loose ends?

As part of a wider discussion about knowledge management (KM), we’ve recently been looking at the following ten steps in the life of a lesson:

1.       Event takes place – an experience, idea, incident or accident

2.       Analysis and capture – through interview, AAR, workshop, report-writing etc.

3.       Packaging – write-up of lessons

4.       Review for accuracy – editing and improvement by person who identified the lesson

5.       Validation – quality check, ownership assigned and upload into a management system

6.       Review for accountability – periodic checks on progress

7.       Implement recommendations – to avoid/ensure recurrence of bad/good alike

8.       Review for effectiveness – ensure that changes have taken place and/or had desired effect

9.       Closure – lesson status updated but retained in system for reference and to aid analysis

10.    Assurance – as part of risk management, periodic review to ensure closed status remains justified

Last time we examined lesson closure – we’ll now finish this discussion by looking at post-closure assurance.

In any organisation with an embedded lessons learned system, it doesn’t take too long for closed lessons to become so many in number for people to lose track of them.  Therefore it makes sense to develop some form of periodic review, whereby closed lessons are checked to ensure that they have sufficiently robust audit trails (i.e. the comments from those that managed the lesson and implemented its recommendation(s)).  Furthermore, the status of the lesson should also be validated – i.e. do we have sufficient evidence to demonstrate that no further work is required?  Does the issue from which the lesson was originally drawn no longer occur?


If lessons are found to have incomplete audit trails or the implemented changes did not address the original issue sufficiently well, the lesson should be re-opened and managed to completion.  If lessons are found to have been closed correctly, then the audit trail should be updated to show that the assurance review has taken place.

That’s it

I began this look at the different stages in the life of a lesson because I come across many people that persist with the view that lessons are things written down from which others might learn if they can be bothered to read them. 

I’ve run meetings for clients where people express frustration that they’re discussing the same issues again and again and that “we never seem to learn from our lessons”.  Without engaging in discussion with those experiencing this angst, there is the risk that lessons as a concept lose credibility and people don’t bother anymore.


I have set out by views on what we should do to and with lessons to ensure that we learn them; you will have your own views.  Let’s hear them…


For more information on lessons, lessons management systems, knowledge management (KM) and organisational learning, please visit the Knoco website.

Life of a lesson #9: we're done when I say we're done, got it?

As part of a wider discussion about knowledge management (KM), we’ve recently been looking at the following ten steps in the life of a lesson:

1.       Event takes place – an experience, idea, incident or accident

2.       Analysis and capture – through interview, AAR, workshop, report-writing etc.

3.       Packaging – write-up of lessons

4.       Review for accuracy – editing and improvement by person who identified the lesson

5.       Validation – quality check, ownership assigned and upload into a management system

6.       Review for accountability – periodic checks on progress

7.       Implement recommendations – to avoid/ensure recurrence of bad/good alike

8.       Review for effectiveness – ensure that changes have taken place and/or had desired effect

9.       Closure – lesson status updated but retained in system for reference and to aid analysis

10.    Assurance – as part of risk management, periodic review to ensure closed status remains justified

 

Last time we looked at how an organisation assures itself that a lesson’s recommendations have been implemented; we’ll now look at lesson closure.

As we have already seen, robust lessons management systems have checks and balances such as periodic reviews that monitor lesson progress and hold lesson owners and other stakeholders to account.  It is during such meetings that lessons recommended for closure are reviewed and, where sufficient evidence justifies the decision, closed.

Early on in its efforts to identify and manage lessons, the British Army decided upon two closure statuses:

• Lessons were closed ‘green’ when recommendations had been implemented and no further action was required;
• Lessons were closed ‘black’ when the lesson was deemed out of date, or that other initiatives had addressed the issue from which the lesson was drawn, or that the recommendations now lacked official endorsement, or that there were neither the resources nor will to implement them.  A recent development in this area has been the continuous management of ‘black’ lessons as risks.

Once lessons have been closed, some organisations ‘remove’ them from their databases or systems but I recommend their retention for 3 reasons:

• Research - when faced with future problems, it can be useful to be able to consult historic lessons (including the commentary and audit trail) to understand how similar issues were tackled in the past;
• Analysis – trends, themes and ‘common issues’ can be detected through data-mining, taxonomy analysis and keyword searches;
• Assurance – any robust system of lessons management should include periodic review of closed lessons to ensure that the decision to close remains valid (we will examine this in greater detail next time).

For more information on lessons, lessons management systems, knowledge management (KM) and organisational learning, please visit the Knoco website.

Life of a lesson #8: did we do what we said we would? You sure?

As part of a wider discussion about knowledge management (KM), we’ve recently been looking at the following ten steps in the life of a lesson:

1.       Event takes place – an experience, idea, incident or accident

2.       Analysis and capture – through interview, AAR, workshop, report-writing etc.

3.       Packaging – write-up of lessons

4.       Review for accuracy – editing and improvement by person who identified the lesson

5.       Validation – quality check, ownership assigned and upload into a management system

6.       Review for accountability – periodic checks on progress

7.       Implement recommendations – to avoid/ensure recurrence of bad/good alike

8.       Review for effectiveness – ensure that changes have taken place and/or had desired effect

9.       Closure – lesson status updated but retained in system for reference and to aid analysis

10.    Assurance – as part of risk management, periodic review to ensure closed status remains justified

Last time we looked at the implementation of the recommendations in each lesson; we’ll now look at the ways in which an organisation assures itself that a lesson’s recommendations have been implemented.


A robust lessons management system relies on checks and balances.  It is not enough for us to do the work required to ‘learn’ the lesson; we have to be able to show to others that we have done it.


This means adding reference material to the lesson, such as revised templates, procedures, or policy documents.  We might add certificates, reports, photographs or links to websites wherein further evidence is contained.


Such evidence, along with an audit trail commentary from the lesson owner, showing how the lesson was learned, is then reviewed by the person or body authorised to close lessons, usually at one of the periodic progress meetings we looked at some weeks ago.


A cautionary tale….

Some years ago, I worked as one of a team of analysts in the British Army’s Lessons Exploitation Centre (LXC), helping the Army to learn from the operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere.  One of our responsibilities was to help manage lessons to their conclusion – i.e. ensuring that actions took place to demonstrate that the Army had learned from the earlier deployments during which such lessons had been identified.


I recall one lesson in particular, which had identified that two pieces of personal equipment were mutually incompatible and that the older of the two should be re-designed.  Procuring new equipment can take time and it is therefore understandable that, when an updated item is finally manufactured, people respond with enthusiasm, perhaps even excitement.


On this occasion, once it was confirmed that the new items were finished and en route to the troops in Afghanistan, the relevant lesson was recommended for closure.  On the surface, it appeared that the lesson’s recommended action had been taken and, since there was plenty of documentary evidence to show that the new equipment had now been procured and was being distributed, the lesson was closed.


A few months later, an LXC colleague deployed to Afghanistan for a 3 month tour.  Before departure, she was sent for training and kit-issue, receiving all the mandatory ‘Afghan-specific’ equipment that she would need during her tour.  She made a specific point of calling us before she flew, to tell us that she had been issued with the old piece of equipment and not the updated version.


This prompted us to re-open the lesson and we kept it open until we had received confirmation from the deployed headquarters in Afghanistan that all personnel had been issued with and were using the new item.

 
From this small incident we learned:

• It is not enough to be told that a change has been made; you need to confirm that the change has been made and is having the desired effect.
• Changes in themselves are not enough – it is the effect intended by such changes that is sought and which should determine whether or not a lesson can be closed.
• Lesson recommendations need to be written with this in mind.

Furthermore, from this point onwards, we increased the threshold at which we judged lessons to have been ‘learned’ and therefore ready for closure.



I am not arguing that the effect of every change needs to be observed; just that judgement should be used when considering the evidence.  Given that the approach for managing lessons can (and should) be closely aligned with that for risk, I think it makes good sense to err on the side of caution.  This means that we hold out for a higher burden of proof for certain lessons, such as those relating to safety or significant financial impact, either positive or negative.


We’re near the end now; next time, we’ll look at closing lessons and what happens next….


For more information on lessons, lessons management systems, knowledge management (KM) and organisational learning, please visit the Knoco website.

 

Life of a lesson #7: Implementing recommendations - actually, like, you know, DOING stuff?!

As part of a wider discussion about knowledge management (KM), we’ve recently been looking at the following ten steps in the life of a lesson:

1. Event takes place – an experience, idea, incident or accident
2. Analysis and capture – through interview, AAR, workshop, report-writing etc.
3. Packaging – write-up of lessons
4. Review for accuracy – editing and improvement by person who identified the lesson
5. Validation – quality check, ownership assigned and upload into a management system
6. Review for accountability – periodic checks on progress
7. Implement recommendations – to avoid/ensure recurrence of bad/good alike
8. Review for effectiveness – observe changes to ensure they have had desired effect
9. Closure – lesson status updated but retained in system for reference and to aid analysis
10. Assurance – as part of risk management, periodic review to ensure closed status remains justified

Last time we looked at the periodic reviews to which lessons should be subjected to ensure accountability for progress is maintained; we’ll now look at the implementation of the recommendations in each lesson.

Whilst the previous stage ensures accountability and makes things happen, this next stage involves those things actually happening.


Readers of this blog will recall that a lesson should answer the following questions:

• What was expected or meant to happen?
• What actually happened?
• How does what happened differ from what was expected?
• What were the root causes or contributory factors?
• What can we learn?  This learning comes in two forms:
• What should we do next time round, when faced with this issue?
• What changes should the host organisation make to prevent or ensure recurrence?
• What impact did this issue have?  How much money/time did it cost or save us?

Therefore the lesson will contain analysis that explains why something happened, recommendations on how to prevent or ensure its recurrence and, crucially, the estimated impact associated with the issue from which the lesson was identified.  It is this impact that will help those responsible for the lesson’s management to closure prioritise their workload (i.e. a lesson with the potential to save lives or many millions of dollars warrants greater attention than one that can save a few thousand).


The recommendations in a lesson vary in detail:

• From the specific - ‘The organisation should review, revise and include the attached template in its pre-deployment procedures before the next project/operation etc.’
• To the more vague - ‘The organisation should conduct a cost-benefit analysis of the current equipment procurement strategy and be prepared to move towards hiring if the analysis shows this will be more cost-effective.’

The individual, team or department now responsible for a lesson should now:

• Review the lesson and, if necessary, seek clarification from the person that raised it;
• Establish the scope of the work required;
• Identify stakeholders that can either help implement (or will be affected by) the recommendations and add them to the lesson;
• Identify current or future work that can help, hinder or otherwise influence the recommendations;
• Identify resources and make a plan….

Crucially, for each of these steps, comments should be added to the lesson in the form of an audit trail to provide any observer with an update on progress.  And when things change – whether they show progress or indicate a setback, the audit trail should be updated accordingly.

It is this audit trail (and external scrutiny thereof) that helps maintain accountability for lessons as it can be checked in the review meetings already discussed.  Furthermore, even when the recommendations have been implemented, the audit trail provides a potentially valuable reference for future colleagues faced with problems similar to those from which the lesson was identified.  In other words, whilst the solutions are what this form of lessons management seeks, the ‘workings-out’ used to produce such solutions also provide further learning opportunities for others and should therefore be written with this potential benefit in mind.

Once the lesson’s recommendations have been implemented (i.e. budgets changed, resources re-allocated, personnel hired/fired/re-trained and re-roled, equipment procured, processes amended), the lesson can be recommended for closure.  The point at which this happens is the next stage in the life of a lesson, to which we will turn next time.

For more information on lessons, lessons management systems, knowledge management (KM) and organisational learning, please visit the Knoco website.

 

Life of a lesson #6: don't try to mess me about - have you done the work or not?!?

As part of a wider discussion about knowledge management (KM), we’ve recently been looking at the following ten steps in the life of a lesson:

1.       Event takes place – an experience, idea, incident or accident

2.       Analysis and capture – through interview, AAR, workshop, report-writing etc.

3.       Packaging – write-up of lessons

4.       Review for accuracy – editing and improvement by person who identified the lesson

5.       Validation – quality check, ownership assigned and upload into a management system

6.       Review for accountability – periodic checks on progress

7.       Implement recommendations – to avoid/ensure recurrence of bad/good alike

8.       Review for effectiveness – observe changes to ensure they have had desired effect

9.       Closure – lesson status updated but retained in system for reference and to aid analysis

10.    Assurance – as part of risk management, periodic review to ensure closed status remains justified

 
Last time we looked at the 5^th step - validation, assignment of ownership and upload into a management system.  We’ll now look at the periodic reviews to which lessons should be subjected to ensure accountability for progress is maintained.
 
We’ve already said that lessons should be assigned to an individual, team or department with the ability to implement the recommendations contained therein (i.e. “the levers”, the budget, the ability to hire and fire etc.).
 
In many respects, lessons are no different to any other kind of work, in that there needs to be some way of monitoring progress and ensuring that things are not simply allowed to drift.  Just as organisations review projects, safety, sales, budgets etc, so they should review their lessons.
 
There are several ways this can be done but the simplest is some form of meeting, held every few weeks or months.
 
Such a meeting should be chaired by an individual responsible for lessons across the whole organisation (i.e. relatively senior, perhaps even the overall boss) and attended by representatives of the departments to whom lessons have been assigned for resolution.
 
Advance notice of the meeting should include an agenda setting out which lessons will be discussed, enabling all to ensure that lesson audit trails (i.e. commentary setting out the status of the lesson and what has been done so far to implement its recommendations) are updated.
 
An example of such an agenda is below:

• Departmental updates
• Discussion of high impact lessons
• Discussion of lessons recommended for transfer or elevation
• Discussion of lessons recommended for closure (recommendations implemented)
• Discussion of lessons recommended for closure (lesson rejected)
• Any other business

 As the agenda implies, these meetings ensure that lessons do not lie idle, that people’s ‘feet are held to the fire’, that lessons are assigned and re-assigned correctly and are the only authority under which lessons can be closed, once it has been demonstrated that recommendations have been implemented and had the desired effect.
 
As should now be obvious, this stage in a lesson’s life is perhaps the most important because:

• Without proper accountability and a regular forum within which to examine progress, things remain as they are or get worse;
• Without senior buy-in and participation in meetings such as this, departments downgrade their attendance or skip the meetings altogether;
• Without the opportunity to discuss suggested solutions and seek assistance from others, lesson owners are left feeling powerless and unable to make progress.

Next time, we’ll look at the recommendations contained in lessons and how they are implemented.


For more information on lessons, lessons management systems, knowledge management (KM) and organisational learning, please visit the Knoco website.

Do you want to know why so many organisations don't learn? I'll tell you....

Next month I'll be running a masterclass for ARK - details of which can be found on their site here.
The aim of the class is to look at organizational learning (OL) and knowledge management (KM) from cultural and behavioural perspectives. Through a series of presentations, discussions, and exercises, I will help participants will explore:

• Challenges, risks, and behaviours that inhibit OL and KM
• Opportunities, enablers, and behaviours that encourage OL and KM
• The importance of leadership and its impact on learning, for good or bad
• Examples and absences of learning from recent history and current affairs

I'll be using examples from my time in the British Army, the City, and now as a KM consultant to explore why some organizations – and people – find it so hard to learn.

After taking part in this masterclass, participants will:

• Be able to identify, create, and make the most of learning opportunities
• Identify, avoid, and manage some of the risks that limit learning
• Have an awareness of how their own behaviour helps or hinders learning
• Have several new tips and approaches for their ‘learning toolkit’
• Have some recommended reading for further study

The masterclass is aimed at OL and KM practitioners from all sectors, novices and experts alike. If you want to move beyond ‘lessons learned’ and gain insight into how to facilitate improved performance, this is for you!



For more information about knowledge management and organisational learning, please visit the Knoco website.