The Lessons Learned and the Storyteller

The lessons learned from an activity, project or any entrepreneurship are the documented information that reflects the positive and negative experiences of that activity, project or entrepreneurship and includes recommendations to improve future performance in new developments. So it is about preventing a person or organization from repeating the same mistakes and taking advantage of the successes achieved. 

According to the Project Management Institute (PMI), the process of Lessons Learned from a project includes five steps: Identify the findings, Document them, Analyze them, Record them and Take Advantage of them. 

The first step: Identifying the findings, means discovering and capturing the facts, figures, comments, and recommendations of the project under study, which could be valuable for future projects. This requires that the lessons learned sessions be Prepared and Oriented or Conducted. 

Preparing the lessons learned session means identifying the participants, including the Facilitator, defining and assigning roles and responsibilities, writing the basic rules of the process and developing the agenda. Additionally, the selected Facilitator must provide a summary of the project to the participants (scope of the project, key facts, and figures, etc.) to help them be better prepared for the sessions. 

Guiding or conducting the lessons learned session means focusing on identifying the successes and failures of a project and obtaining recommendations to improve performance in future projects. Here the Facilitator is the key figure, because he or she is in charge of ensuring that all relevant issues are included in the debate and that the process of lessons learned is fluid, in line with the basic rules, promoting among the attendees the criticism to the facts and findings that are identified, avoiding signaling people. 

Under this scheme, the Facilitator acts as a guiding and pivoting element of the session, in which the listed facts and figures of the project lead to the participants being able to identify the potential findings. 

Now, let’s imagine that the lessons learned sessions instead of starting with the guidelines given by a guiding leader begin with a fluent narrative (the Story), presented by the Facilitator or someone selected to do that (the Storyteller), which describes in a pleasant way what happened in the project from the beginning, starting with the start-up meeting of the project and from there tells the story about how was the relationship with the client at all levels: management, administration, planning and execution, continuing the narration with those key events that could have impacted the course of the project and how we reacted to them at that time, at all levels. Here the Storyteller could open the "Story" by promoting the audience participation in the narrative, asking for example, what other experience or relevant event happened to us? Who were the featured characters? and what was the positive thing that they did to solve the event, including also, in a positive way (without signaling people) how we could have failed and how these events were also closed. 

Nick Morgan, author of "Power Cues", points out the following: "The facts and figures and all the rational things that we believe are important in the business world, do not really stick in our minds at all." 

In addition, activating our memory with memories of the project's experiences facilitates the visualization of the events under the situations experienced, which favors the detection of findings that could otherwise be omitted. The incidents experienced move people internally more than the evaluation of the facts and the figures that are shown on a blackboard. Consequently, saying an incident can be worth more than reporting facts and figures. Here is the importance of telling the story of the project.

Then, for an activity that is based on the review of past events like as the lessons learned sessions, it would be useful to use any tool that allows the events reappear as smoothly as possible. Thus, the implementation of the figure of the Storyteller at the beginning of these sessions, who would tell the summarized history of the project under evaluation, acquires strength in comparison with the traditional procedure of identifying findings from a list of facts or figures. However, it should be noted that this summary history of the project must be effective (focused on key events) and should motivate the participants of the lessons learned session. So, the following question arises: How to make a summary story of the project effective and motivating? 

Carolyn O'Hara in her article "How to tell a great story" (Harvard Business Review - July 30, 2014's edition) wrote the following: 

"Stories create sticky memories by adding emotions to things that have happened". 

"We tell our co-workers and friend stories to persuade someone to support our project". 

When we listen to a story, our mentality changes drastically. Not only are activated the language processing parts, but also those areas that would be used if you were in the story yourself. Thus, "stories create sensory experiences" (The Psychology of Stories: The Storytelling Formula Our Brains Crave, by Shane Jones, Hubspot blog, 2017). 

"When you listen to shocking stories, the brain can really make you develop thoughts, opinions, and ideas that align with the person telling the story. When we tell stories that have really influenced our way of thinking, we can also achieve the same effect on our audience, influencing them. The brains of the narrator and the listener can really synchronize" (The Psychology of Stories: The Storytelling Formula Our Brains Crave, by Shane Jones, Hubspot blog, 2017).

Then, a motivating story could be based on the following: 

• It must be chronological. It contains a beginning and end. 

• It must say who we are, not only what we do because human relationships require reciprocity and authenticity. 

• It must explain how the shared purpose will be fulfilled and also explain the roles needed to fulfill it. 

• It must ensure that the figures and events that occurred are explicitly translated into clear, simple and visual messages. 

The objective is to say something that provokes the emotional response of the audience.

" I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."_ Maya Angelou.

Spanish version available at:

https://ingconcurrente.blogspot.com/2017/08/las-lecciones-aprendidas-y-el-narrador.html