Lessons Learned Q4 - 2009

Over the years I institutionalized Lessons Learned meetings with the various teams I have been leading, most recently Marketing and Product Management. I firmly believe in the value of making certain we understand the reasons for what happened for good and bad. These meetings are invariably valuable and have no doubt been one of the many reasons these teams consistently improved. It was great to hear people say in the middle of projects "well, that is going on my Lessons Learned list". While we certainly made mistakes and wrong decisions, we rarely made the same mistake twice.

Likewise, by getting into the habit of reviewing and updating my resume every quarter (thank you Manager-Tools, see the post on My Favorite Podcasts) that process is close to a personal Lessons Learned session. So if formal Lessons Learned meetings are worthwhile for teams, wouldn't they also be worthwhile for individuals? This post is a personal Lessons Learned review. This was an interesting quarter and there is a lot which should never be forgotten.

However, prior to starting that topic, the quarterly resume update comment should probably be expanded. The team at Manager-Tools recommended a quarterly resume update on one of their podcasts a while ago. Like much of their advice I followed it and as usual was happy I did. It is important to have an updated resume because you never know when you will need it. Forcing yourself to update your resume with specific quantifiable information, because resumes need to highlight results and results are quantifiable, you get into the habit focusing and measuring your results all the time. Certainly we should all be doing this but a quarterly update has helped me focus on making certain that what I am working on is measurable not just to the company, but to me and my career.

Back to Lessons Learned. The normal process for our team meetings is that everyone provides at least 3 - 5 items which worked well and 3 - 5 items we don't want to repeat. We put everything together count up the items which were mentioned multiple times, group everything together, send it out to everyone, review it at the next meeting and again when a similar project is started as part of the kick off meeting.

This list will be slightly different, this is a simple list of items I don't want to forget:

• I will always get promises in writing
• We all know this, but really, are all the promises which you are counting on in writing?
• My career takes active management - what did I do today to actively manage my career?
• Always know my value statement
• This is not a job description this is how I provide value to my employer. This should be in writing. Review as part of my quarterly resume review.
• It was very valuable to create a personal SWOT analysis - I will review this and update regularly along with my resume, quarterly.
• Always know what I want to improve and make a point of working on that
• Continue to make this specific i.e. time management, team management, better hiring, more effective presentations, better listening, etc.
• There are always ways to improve effectiveness and efficiency. Work on these relentlessly.
• Always be expanding my personal network of friends - continue to expand my network of friends.
• Make a point to reach out to people and connect regularly. Having more friends and being interested in others makes for a much happier and fulfilling life. Congratulate friends on their success and reach out to comfort those in need. Be nice to people, say hello to everyone, smile. I can meet a lot of interesting people that way.
• Always be open to new opportunities
• I may have (had) the best job in the world but don't kid yourself, it is not secure, don't ever think that again.
• Have a written set of goals which cover all aspects of my life that I review regularly
• Momentum takes a long time to build but can be stopped very quickly.
• Don't make big moves without making certain I understand the underlying issues.
• It may look good on paper but reality can be different. Remember the saying "the map is not the terrain".
• Leadership - have a vision, make it big, communicate it clearly.
• Develop multiple lines of communication and relationships within any organization.
• That is the only way to really understand what is happening. Always listen more than I talk. Always triangulate.
• Don't wait until the end of the quarter to build a list of Lessons Learned. Create a document and update it as needed. Clean it up and post it quarterly. I have the feeling that I have already forgotten some important lessons.
• Compensation drives actions and activity.

I would love to hear what you learned this last quarter.