Delivering Value From Your Lessons

I spent the last couple of days with my colleague, Nick Milton’s latest book. It is now ready to be sent to the publisher and this was a last chance to go through it before it gets sent to the publisher.

Creating a text book is an iterative process. You write text and then reflect on whether it clearly describes the point you are trying to get across. You produce a diagram to illustrate a model or concept but does it clearly illustrate the point. In some ways putting the book together is like working with a jigsaw puzzle, you have all the pieces but have you put them together in the right way.

The process that I like to use is to read the book ‘cover to cover’. I find somewhere quiet, settle down with a cup of tea and some chocolate biscuits. I read it at one sitting if possible. I don’t make any comments on the text but just read it cover to cover. I am trying to see if the whole thing hangs together. Does it work as a work rather than a series of chapters?

I then go back and read it line by line, but this time i annotate the text where required. Sometimes it is just a question of style. I have worked with Nick for about fifteen years now and we each have our own style of explaining things, sometimes even at this late stage I might suggest that a point has to be expanded in order to make it crystal clear to the reader.

Nick’s book is entitled The Lessons Learned handbook, Practical Approaches to Learning from Experience

For those looking for a book that describes how to get value out of lessons learned, this book is for you. I think it is clear, provides real insight as to how to create a system and process that allows an organisation to learn from its experiences. It’s now available to pre order from Amazon.

Knoco Ltd