Learning from Success and Failure - Action-based learning

We all learn from our experience, in our daily lives. We try something once, and depending on what happens we decide what to do next time.  Most experiences have a mixture of positive aspects and sharper lessons to be recognised. 

We also learn from other people's experience, whether we buy a cookery book or pick up ideas from our parents and peers. Many of us join associations of some sort - a horticultural society or sports club - specifically to improve our expertise through contact with others.

The same happens in our professional lives, and the concept of apprenticeship is all about the transfer of skills from a master to an apprentice. However, with the fast-changing nature of many jobs these days, often it is the younger people who master technology first and help older staff to catch up. Many of us can think of people who have acted as mentors, guiding us through various challenging situations and helping us to become more skilled as a result.

This should also apply to the projects we work on, and the business processes which we handle. We should be thinking about whether they work or not, and making changes if necessary. And we should be looking for lessons from others who have dealt with similar situations. 

Sometimes this happens, but too often it doesn't. As described on another page, there are various psychological, organisational and technical obstacles to be overcome in learning from experience in the workplace. And yet this is probably the most fruitful means by which organisations can improve their effectiveness with the systems and processes already at their disposal.