Application of a Systemic Lessons Learned Knowledge model for organisational learning

through projects

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Stephen Duffield Confirmed PhD Candidate USQ

@invictaprojects #SYLLK

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by Stephen Duffield in this presentation are his alone, and do

not reflect the views, opinions and position of any organisation with which Stephen may be otherwise affiliated.

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PM lessons learned journey

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(ISSEC August 2011 John Andrews)

Boeing LLdb review…2003 (not effective)…2007 (not effective), Boeing 2010 (a different approach - look at other mechanisms - repeat findings – culture)

Master of Project Management - Research Risk Management

@invictaprojects #SYLLK http://www.pmlessonslearned.info

http://astore.amazon.com/pmlesleablo-20

80% of 74 attempt LL 60% are dissatisfied

LL fails to deliver

62% of 522 have a LL process Only 11.7 % used it Why?

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The ‘Swiss Cheese’ model of defences

Source: Reason, J., 1990. Human error.

Cambridge University Press Reason, J., 1997. Managing the risks of

organizational accidents. Ashgate

The term ‘Swiss cheese’ was labelled by Dr Rob Lee, then the Director of Bureau of Air Safety Investigation, Canberra (Reason, J., 2013. A Life in Error. Ashgate.)

Source: <http://www.slideshare.net/duckcy04/deep-water-horizon-accident-investigation-lessons-learned

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The Deepwater Horizon Accident – Lessons

for NASA … lessons from this tragedy are

potent reminders of the pitfalls that can

plague complex programs and projects in any

industry…even those with long track records

of success.

…government oversight, disregard for data,

testing, changes to processes and

procedures, safety culture, communications

and lessons learned

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Reason’s Swiss cheese model as a concept and structure to enhance learning …

HRO’s use the Swiss cheese model

to provide a basis for trend analysis

and learning from incidents

(Hayes 2009).

Safety culture

Informed culture

Reporting culture

Just culture

Flexible culture

Learning culture

Some organisations already enhance their capacity to adapt and learn …

500+

Reason (1990, 1997)

O’Dell et al. (1998)

Busby (1999)

Williams (1999, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2012)

Keegan and Turner (2001)

Disterer (2002)

Von Zedtwitz (2002)

Bresnen et al. (2003)

Fernie et al. (2003)

Fong (2003)

Harkema (2003)

Liebowitz and Megbolugbe (2003)

Schindler and Eppler (2003)

Strang (2003)

Maqsood et al. (2004)

Liebowitz (2005)

Milton (2005, 2010)

Atkinson et al. (2006)

Maqsood (2006)

Boh (2007)

Eskerod and Skriver (2007)

Sense (2007)

Ajmal and Koskinen (2008)

Anbari et al. (2008)

Duhon and Elias (2008)

Julian (2008)

Hanisc et al. (2009)

Whitty (2009, 2012)

Ajmal et al. (2009, 2010)

Krammer (2010)

Bakker et al. (2011)

Gasik (2011)

Lindner and Wald (2011)

O’Dell and Hubert (2011)

Thomas (2012)

Pemsel and Wiewiora (2013)

Knowledge

Lessons learned

Organisational learning

Organisational knowledge

People (culture, social)

Lesson learned process

Technology and Infrastructure

Networks (complex adaptive systems)

Literature

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LL models...the journey

Application

Dissemination

Culture (just culture)

Project n (Lesson Learned)

Organisation Knowledge

Project n

(Lesson Identified)

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Syllk model

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Research Methodology

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Action Research

Problem Solving Interest Research Interest

Focus Groups

Facilitators BarriersRight skilled people Takes too much time; time pressures

Right people to hand Memories fade

Training (effective) Lessons wont apply to my project

Learning from experience De-motivated

(failures, challenges, difficulties and success) Lets learn from our failure – witch hunt...

Staff with a high level of knowledge / qualifications People learn differently

Willingness/passion to share knowledge People do not learn and continue to make the same mistakes

Understand that people learn differently Difficult to teach practitioners in other parts of the organisation

(Training sessions; Technical notes; Technical forums) Different levels of knowledge and understanding

Education, training and staff development practices Technical arrogance (credibility)

Reflection Protecting ones sphere of knowledge

Poor training practices

Facilitators BarriersTone at the top Anonymous reports

Routine practices Blame

Supportive practices / supporting culture Don't have time

Help needed (help me to help you) Rapid change of staff – redeployment

Just Culture (Safety culture, learning culture, reporting culture) Internal politics (credibility)

Group (work) support in development of learning's To use lessons would reflect badly on my reputation

Understand that knowledge is power but even more so when it is shared Lack of incentives, buy-in

Develop individual knowledge sharing plans Knowledge is power

Networking encouraged and supported Shoot the messenger

Action on positive feedback Communication gap / miss-understandings

Positive leadership Delivery culture not learning culture

Respect Complex organisations; Operational silos

No senior sponsorship

Anxiety about changes

Poor leadership practices

Lack of adaptability or resilience

WIIFM (What is in it for me)

Fast moving workforce

Social behaviours

Old way the only way

Personal goals different to organisational goals

Low performance results focus culture

Financial pressures

Facilitators BarriersCustom built teams Same old teamOperate as a team Not invented hereCustom build the approach (Not one size fits all) Unwillingness to share /less valuableKeep trying different approaches Don't want to appear vulnerable and stupid by admitting mistakesDo not personalise Teams wont share mistakes and dirty laundry - reputation

Interact with as many people as possible to capture information Resistance to change (must have credibility) Not my problemTeamwork approach Too stubbornHonesty and Integrity Cynical

Provide time for unstructured interaction PoliticsGenerally want to improve Don't understand what it is like to work in other parts of the organisationGood enterprise social business Poor communication - anti social behaviour - social interactionsProductive culture Personality traits

Blame environment

Competitive environment

Perceived credibility and approachability

Social polices

Shame personally exposed

Lack of trust

Poor coordination

Facilitators BarriersIntranets Hard to find / locate lessons

e-libraries No way to classify lesson for easy retrieval

Wikis Not trained in use of tools

Multiple channels of information in use Poor (lack of) ICT systems and processes

Distribution of links to all targeted stakeholders Done in inconsistent ways

Ease of access through different IT solutions Too many initiatives

Systems respected and need to be part of your everyday job Restrictive audience

Poor Search facility

SharePoint 2010 governance and funding issues

Not everyone uses social media

Lack of money / funding / expensive

Too complex

Set and forget systems

Too many systems

Systems are not part of your every day job

Inappropriate focus on technology

Not being able to find what you need when you need it

Collection of data just for the sake of it

Too structured

Facilitators BarriersDebriefing Willingness to conduct the process

Reviews Tick the box process / compliance

Brain Storming Procedures not being followed, don't exist, are not updated

Case Studies / Tell a story / Keep it 2 pages - simple Post-Implementation reviews not done

Dissemination (Training, Education) Takes too much time

Mentoring Lack of time to mentor

Staff Transfer Lack of enforcement

Functional management enforcement No metrics

Alignment to Risk Management Lack of formalising the process and incorporating new work

Senior management commitment Lack of consistency in following the process

Credibility - endorsement of systems in place - Imprimatur WIIFM (What is in it for me)

Simplification Lack of understanding and commitment

Capability in methodology Complacency

Contextualised Don't bother not my problem

Language (taxonomy)

Don't exist / fragmented

Lack of flexibility in approach (no complex adaption)

Read the process but don't understand the process

Process/manuals are owned by another organisation

Processes don't match with IT systems

Facilitators BarriersPhysical space Legal constraints

Training facilities Governance

Senior management commitment Poor facilitation

Good user interface/useability/search Time poor

Lack of financial/funding support

Language (taxonomy) / poor search

Don't have access to emerging technology

Remote sites have limited infrastructure (Don't assume everyone has

what you may have)

Systems-Process

Systems-Infrastructure

Positive openings (facilitators) and negative impediments (barriers) within each lessons learned element/variable:

People-Social

People-Learning

People-Culture

Systems-Technology

One Project Manager stated that “we were getting lots of push

from our KM team to get lessons learned going and get it

implemented to meet deliverables, had we had the model we

would have been able to present to the Directors to show them

what needs to be invested in to do it properly, as it is not just

about doing a process.”

How can the Syllk model help?

“helps with the change management process”

“can represent knowledge storage and found some alignment

with a complex organisational brain”

“hard to get a lesson learned through, so it is not just about

having a database, it is not just about one thing it is about a

series of things ... I like the way it kind of stacks it up and shows

it working”

Barriers Facilitators

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Cycle 1

IKnow(Branch) Stat

us

Cycle 2

(sub-Branch)CK Stat

us

Cycle 3

(sub-Branch)CK Stat

us

Best Practice Directory PI Best Practice Directory [Capital Infrastructure Requirements] I Best Practice Directory [Capital Infrastructure Requirements] I

Lessons Learned PI Lessons Learned [Project Reviews, Building Performance Evaluations] I Lessons Learned [Project Reviews, Building Performance Evaluations] I

Story telling TI Stories [Storytelling part of (sub-Branch)CK-CoP] PI Stories [Storytelling part of (sub-Branch)CK-CoP, lunch box talks] I

Questions and Answers NI Questions and Answers [Social Media] TI Questions and Answers [Social Media] PI

Communities of Practice I Communities of Practice I Communities of Practice [(sub-Branch)CK CoP, Interface meetings] I

Special Interest Groups TI (sub- Branch)CK [Special Interest Groups/Social Media sub-groups] TI (sub-Branch)CK [Special Interest Groups/Social Media sub-groups] PI

Portal TI Portal [Social Media - (sub-Branch)CK] TI Portal [Social Media [Yammer] - (sub-Branch)CK] PI

Yellow Pages NI (sub-Branch)CK Connect [Social Media] TI (sub-Branch)CK Connect [Social Media [Yammer]] PI

Knowledge Audit TI (sub-Branch)CK Knowledge Audit PI

E-learning NI

Mentoring / buddying NI

Performance appraisals TI

Implemented I

Part implemented PI

Tried to implement TI

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Research Projects Project A Project B Project C

Best Practice Directory

Lessons Learned

Story telling Story telling

Questions and Answers

Communities of Practice Communities of Practice

Special Interest Groups (Special Interest Groups)

Portal Portal Portal

Knowledge Audit

Yellow Pages

E-learning

Mentoring / buddying

Performance appraisals

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Syllk elements Facilitators Barriers

People Learning Listening skills

Comfortable and personal medium

Motivational stories, Identify goals, goals driven

Open to learning

Any story is a good story

Growing organisation learns

Emotional moment

Aha moment

Easy to remember

Training different needs for different people

Get to the emotional connection

Adapt stories for Department

Not in general / usual format

Too outside the box

Can’t find the story link to add the value, intent, and change

(Can’t find the Aha)

They want to know but won’t ask

Fear (unknown and being wrong)

Shared understanding in the team about purpose and focus on

stories

Sick of learning and changing

Agenda

People Culture Growing organisation learns

Developing organisation (supportive, drive and resourcing)

Strong leadership

Champions of change

The need to change to survive

Comfortable with problem issues / stories (positive and

negative stories)

Public Service values

Division Commitment, values and behaviours

Short term culture 1-5 years

Challenging external and internal environments

We always do it this way

UGRs (unwritten ground rules)

Resistance to change; losing people / skills / knowledge, Change

Management ineffective

Long term culture (will the change last)

Fear of being wrong, Lack of risk taking

Most staff will be in the middle (safe)

Competing work load / no time / busy doing job

Sanitised stories / risk / newspaper test / Agenda’s / Senior

Management test

Only big outcome stories valued, perfect stories

Staff have no connection head office

Systems Technology Intranet

Email, newsletters on line

End to end digital story recording + editing equipment that can

be used by team and others – democratic story gathering (use

of iPhone / iPad technology)

Real time information sharing

Visual stories

Mobile technology

Technology supporting disabilities

Access to communications team

Intranet – Approval to change edit / publishing process

Latest technology (i.e. windows etc)

Many different versions of systems

Technology doesn’t fit stories and audience e.g. written stories,

digital etc

Not all have access

Lack of training

Not all have access to Intranet etc, Bandwidth

Systems

Infrastructure

New ICT technologies

Open minds

Assistance from experts (e.g. communications team)

Story telling courses, toolbox

Resources (large division/department)

Environment of change

Competing work load

Access to communications team

ICT resourcing / priority

Silos of operations

Organisation structure

Workloads (Day to day, lack of resources, no help)

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Duffield, S., Whitty, S.J., 2015. Developing a systemic lessons learned knowledge model for organisational learning through projects. International journal of project management, 33, 311-324.

Duffield, Stephen and Whitty, Jonathan (2012) A systemic lessons learned and captured knowledge (SLLCK) model for project organizations. In: 9th Annual Project Management Australia Conference (PMOz 2012), 15-16 Aug 2012, Melbourne, Australia

doi:10.1016/j.ijproman.2014.07.004

http://www.invictaprojects.com.au/pmlessonslearnedblog/?page_id=967

http://www.invictaprojects.com.au/pmlessonslearnedblog/?page_id=447

http://eprints.usq.edu.au/22706/

Contact Stephen for further information: Stephen Duffield MPM CPPD

http://www.pmlessonslearned.info stephen@pmlessonslearned.info

@invictaprojects

Contact Jon for further information: Dr S. Jonathan Whitty BEng(Hons) PhD Senior Lecturer in Project Management

Program Coordinator - Master of Project Management http://eprints.usq.edu.au/profile/477

jon.whitty@usq.edu.au @jon_whitty

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A World Café and Barriers to KM

Day 2 @ 2:15pm

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