The Silent Cost of Silence: Addressing the Lack of Lessons Learned in Organizations

Published On:

September 11, 2025

The Silent Cost of Silence: Addressing the Lack of Lessons Learned in Organizations

I thought it would be timely to have a post on lessons learned just as we had several contributors recently discuss and share their lessons learned in this August during the “Lessons Learned Round-Up”.

In today’s fast-paced and ever-evolving organizational environments, the ability to learn from experience is one of the most critical drivers of long-term success. Whether in corporate settings, academic institutions, non-profits, or government agencies, every project, initiative, or operational challenge presents an opportunity to gain valuable insights. These insights — often referred to as “lessons learned” or my favourite “retrospectives” — can illuminate what worked well, what went wrong, and how future efforts can be improved.

However, despite their importance, many organizations fail to systematically capture and share these lessons. The result is a recurring cycle of avoidable mistakes, inefficiencies, and missed opportunities. This issue is not always rooted in a lack of tools or resources; more often, it stems from a cultural and communicative gap. Simply put, people aren’t talking about what they’ve learned. And therein lies both the problem and the solution: fostering open, honest conversations about experiences can be the key to unlocking organizational learning and growth.

The Problem: When Lessons Go Unlearned

Organizations are complex systems composed of people, processes, and technologies. Every project, initiative, or operational cycle generates insights—what worked, what didn’t, and what could be improved. These insights, when captured and shared, become lessons learned. However, in many organizations, these lessons remain locked in the minds of individuals or buried in forgotten documents.

Symptoms of the Problem

Repetition of Mistakes: Teams make the same errors across projects because prior failures were never discussed or documented.
Loss of Institutional Knowledge: When employees leave, their experiences go with them, creating knowledge gaps.
Low Morale and Engagement: Employees feel unheard or undervalued when their insights are ignored.
Inefficient Processes: Without reflection, inefficient practices persist, wasting time and resources.

Root Causes

Cultural Barriers: In some organizations, admitting mistakes is seen as a weakness. This discourages open dialogue and reflection.
Lack of Structured Processes: There may be no formal mechanism to capture lessons learned, such as post-mortems or retrospectives.
Time Constraints: Teams often rush from one project to the next without pausing to reflect.
Leadership Blind Spots: Leaders may underestimate the value of lessons learned or fail to model reflective behavior.

The Consequences: A Cycle of Inefficiency

The absence of a lessons-learned culture creates a vicious and self-perpetuating cycle of inefficiency and frustration. Projects fail or underperform, but the underlying causes —whether strategic missteps, communication breakdowns, or resource misallocations — are rarely examined in depth. Instead of pausing to reflect, teams often move on to the next initiative, carrying forward the same flawed assumptions and unresolved issues.

This lack of introspection leads to repeated setbacks, where the same mistakes are made under slightly different circumstances. Over time, this erodes trust among team members and between leadership and staff, as people begin to feel that their experiences and insights are neither valued nor utilized.

Innovation suffers because employees become risk-averse, fearing that failures will be ignored rather than learned from. Organizational resilience — the ability to adapt, recover, and grow stronger from challenges — is weakened, leaving the organization vulnerable to external pressures and internal stagnation. Without a deliberate effort to capture and share lessons learned, the organization becomes trapped in a loop of reactive decision-making, missing out on the transformative power of reflection and dialogue

The Simple Solution: Talk About It

While formal systems and documentation are valuable, the most powerful remedy is surprisingly simple: conversation. Encouraging open, honest dialogue about successes and failures can transform organizational culture and performance.

Why Talking Works

Builds Psychological Safety: When people feel safe to speak up, they share more candid insights.
Fosters Collective Intelligence: Group discussions allow diverse perspectives to surface, enriching understanding.
Encourages Continuous Improvement: Regular conversations about what’s working and what’s not create a feedback loop for growth.
Strengthens Relationships: Talking builds trust and empathy among team members.

Practical Steps to Foster a Lessons-Learned Culture

Normalize Reflection

Make reflection a routine part of work. After every project or milestone, hold a “lessons learned” session. Ask:

What went well?
What didn’t go as planned?
What would we do differently next time?

Keep the tone constructive and inclusive.

Create Safe Spaces

Psychological safety is key. Leaders should model vulnerability by sharing their own lessons learned. Avoid blame and focus on learning. It is not about the “who” but the what and the how. Use neutral facilitators if needed to guide sensitive discussions.

Use Storytelling

Encourage employees to share stories, not just data. Stories are memorable and emotionally resonant. They help others understand the context and impact of decisions.

Document and Share

While talking is powerful, documentation ensures longevity. Summarize key takeaways from discussions and store them in accessible formats—wikis, shared drives, or internal newsletters. It is important to consider how this information will be made available and shared. Having documentation that sits where it cannot be reached and readily available will not benefit anyone.

Celebrate Learning

Recognize and reward those who contribute to organizational learning. Celebrate not just successes, but the courage to reflect and share. Make it part of your evaluation and feedback systems.

Integrate into Onboarding and Training

Use lessons learned as teaching tools. New employees can benefit from the experiences of others, accelerating their learning curve.

Case Example: Turning Talk into Transformation

Consider a mid-sized tech company that struggled with repeated delays in product launches. Each team blamed external factors, and no one took ownership. A new leader introduced monthly “learning circles” where teams discussed recent projects openly. Over time, patterns emerged—poor cross-functional communication and unclear timelines. By simply talking about it, the company redesigned its workflow, improved collaboration, and reduced launch delays by 40% within six months.

Challenges to Expect

Initial Resistance: Some employees may be skeptical or fearful. Start small and build trust.
Time Investment: Reflection takes time, but the ROI in improved performance is worth it.
Sustaining Momentum: Keep the practice alive by embedding it into routines and rituals.

Organizations don’t need expensive systems, elaborate frameworks, or external consultants to begin learning from experience. What they need is a commitment to open, honest, and regular dialogue. Talking—respectfully and reflectively—about what went right, what went wrong, and what could be done differently is one of the most accessible and transformative practices any organization can adopt.

When lessons are shared rather than hidden, they become catalysts for growth, innovation, and resilience. This shift doesn’t require a major overhaul; it begins with a cultural mindset that values curiosity over blame and learning over perfection. The path to continuous improvement starts not with a formal report or a strategic plan, but with a simple, powerful question asked out loud: “What did we learn?” When this question becomes part of everyday conversations, organizations unlock their full potential—turning experience into wisdom, and setbacks into stepping stones for future success.

PML would like to extend a huge thank you to Sylvie Edwards for sharing her knowledge and wisdom with the PML community! Learn more about her below and reach out to connect!

About the Author

For those who don’t know Sylvie, she has been involved in Project Management in several industries for the past 25+ years. Sylvie previously worked for a top 5 Consulting Firm, where she oversaw projects in the IT, Banking, Health, Government and Securities sectors as well as a Manager in the Risk Management practice.

Sylvie went on to establish her own consulting practice assisting organizations in establishing processes, strategies and developing methodologies. She was instrumental in the development of methodologies for the creation of PMOs as well as for the evaluation, assessment and review of projects in peril.

Sylvie is currently a professor and the coordinator for the Project Management Certificate Program at Durham College. She previously taught at the University of Toronto continuing studies department, assisting hundreds of potential PMP® achieve their certification. She is a frequent lecturer, presenter and blogger (PMWorld360°, ProjectBites, LinkedIn) on all things related to project management. She holds several certifications and has the honour of having been named Fellow of the Project Management Association of Canada (FPMAC).

Sylvie’s involvement with PMI® is long standing including over 12 years on the Board of Directors of the local Chapter where she led initiatives in education, mentoring and held the role of President for two terms. She recently accepted a role back on the BOD for PMI-DHC while still volunteering by becoming their resident “bookworm”, helping people find great reads to supplement their learning about Project Management and everything connecting to it.

If you see her at an event, say hello and get to know her!

Connect directly with Sylvie at https://www.linkedin.com/in/sylvie4sresolutions/

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