Martin Silcock asked:
"This is an interesting problem. Is there any way the Learning History
concept can be adapted or simplified to help here? I am coming to the end
of the first phase of a business development project and am considering
ways to capture learning and record it for future use in projects. Does
any one have any ideas, experience on how this could be practically done-
A mini history written by individuals on the project, a personal
reflections questionnaire? and the process to take etc. I am willing to
experiment, and fail! "
I've not been following this thread, and I don't know if a "Learning
History" is a specific tool, but I have something that might help (as long
as you don't mind being a bit creative and flexible, which is probably not
a problem for most people reading this).
I work for the US Department of Labor in Seattle, and we have a project
called Simply Better!. We've developed a couple of tools (which I
described here about a month ago) which may suit your needs. The Self
Assessment Systm is based on the Baldrige award criteria; we've turned it
into a team-based system which produces shared understanding of your
processes as well as sets of strengths and opportunities for improvement.
The SAS has been used for large-scale organizational assessments, smaller
team or project assessments, and as a thinking guide for strategic
planning at the organizational and board levels. As you may imagine, it's
pretty flexible and easy to use.
Our other major product is Service by Design, which is a seven-step
problem-solving tool; essentially, it's a workbook for teams, and
encourages dialog, systems thinking, creativity and problem solving. It
may prompt some thinking about your process as well. There is a short
team evaluation at the back which also may be relevant.
Your favorite Uncle Sam has already paid for these products, so you may
download them for free at www.simplybetter.org. Some people have run into
downloading problems, so please let us know if you have trouble.
Barak Rosenbloom, Troublemaker
Simply Better!/US Department of Labor
rosenbloomb@doleta.gov
206-553-4543 x8030
--BARAK ROSENBLOOM <ROSENBLOOMB@DOLETA.GOV>
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>