Why Lessons Learned should grow like forests not sit like fallen leaves

lorenaflorian0
25 minutes ago
4 min read

So, continuing the tree theme from our prior blog imagine walking through a thriving forest, you will see the various layers from undergrowth right up to the canopy. As you walk through you’re stepping into one of nature’s most sophisticated networks. Beneath the surface, mycorrhizal fungi weave a vast communication system the Wood Wide Web connecting trees, sharing nutrients, and transmitting signals that help the entire ecosystem adapt and flourish.

Now, contrast that with how most project organisations handle lessons learned? From our experience they are often captured as static documents filed away at the end of a project, rarely revisited, and almost never nourishing future initiatives.

Do you think it is time to rethink this?

Forests don’t wait until winter to share resources, so why do we?

The Wood Wide Web teaches us that resilience and growth come from continuous exchange, not one-off transactions. Trees don’t wait until the end of a season to share what they’ve learned; they do it constantly, ensuring the whole system benefits in real time.

Project organisations, on the other hand, often treat lessons learned as a post-mortem ritual, a box to tick before closure. Don’t you think this approach misses the point because I do. Lessons learned should be living systems, feeding improvement throughout the lifecycle, not just after the fact.

The challenge: Static lessons in a dynamic world

In today’s volatile, uncertain, complex & ambiguous (VUCA) environment, where programs and portfolios span multiple teams and geographies, static lessons learned are like fallen leaves, that is, some are interesting to look at but they are disconnected from the living system.

What we need is a networked approach: lessons that flow across projects, phases, and portfolios, informing decisions as they happen. This isn’t just good practice it’s essential for

that want to thrive in complexity.

Enter DELIVER: A Framework for Living Lessons

PMLogic’s award-winning DELIVER framework provides exactly that. Built on principles of structured, repeatable practices, DELIVER embeds continuous learning into every stage of delivery not as an afterthought, but as a core capability.

Here’s how DELIVER mirrors the forest’s wisdom:

Discover (D): Capture insights during initiation, not just assumptions. Like seedlings sensing soil conditions, projects start stronger when informed by past experience.
Evaluate (E): Share lessons in real time. When a risk materialises or a workaround proves effective, feed that knowledge into the network immediately.
Lessons (L): Treat lessons as living roots, not fallen leaves. They should nourish future projects and strengthen the organisational ecosystem.
Implement (I): Embed improvements into practice quickly, just as trees adapt growth patterns to changing light and nutrients.
Validate (V): Test whether changes truly enhance outcomes, like a forest balancing growth with resilience against storms.
Evaluation (E): Continuously assess the health of the whole system, not just individual trees, projects thrive when the portfolio canopy is strong.
Review (R): Make reflection iterative, not terminal. Lessons aren’t a tombstone; they’re a root system that keeps growing.

Real-World Examples of Living Lessons

NSW Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ) – Accountability Framework

When PMLogic partnered with DCJ to support the transformation of its Out-of-Home Care program, lessons learned weren’t left for the end they were embedded from day one. Using DELIVER, the team co-developed an Accountability Framework through continuous consultation and iterative workshops.

Discovery, Examine and Lessons phase captured insights from prior reviews and stakeholder interviews, shaping the framework’s foundation.
Implementation Validate and Evaluate phase validated these lessons in real time, aligning practices with operational realities.
Reinforcement phase created a SharePoint hub for ongoing updates, ensuring lessons remained dynamic and accessible.

The outcome: Accountability became a living system, not a static report.

Regional and Local Roads Repair Program (RLRRP) – Government Excellence

For this award-winning program, lessons learned were treated as active inputs during planning and execution. DELIVER enabled the team to integrate insights from previous infrastructure projects into risk registers and stakeholder engagement strategies. Regular milestone reviews acted like “knowledge pulses,” allowing lessons to flow across multiple delivery streams. This approach mirrored the forest’s adaptive network—strengthening resilience and accelerating delivery.

DST Group – Digital Transformation with Apollo

When the Defence Science and Technology (DST) Group sought a portfolio management solution, PMLogic applied DELIVER to ensure sustainability.

Lessons from earlier system rollouts informed platform design decisions.
Continuous coaching empowered DST teams to adapt and evolve the solution independently. The result was “Apollo” a fully integrated system governing six portfolios and every project. Lessons weren’t archived; they were coded into the DNA of the solution.

Practical ways to embed living lessons

Initiation: Use prior lessons to shape business cases and governance models. Make them visible in decision-making dashboards.
Planning: Integrate lessons into risk registers and stakeholder engagement strategies. Treat them as active inputs, not passive archives.
Execution: Hold “micro-retrospectives” at key milestones. Share insights across teams using collaborative platforms not email.
Closure: Instead of a static report, create a dynamic knowledge artifact that links to ongoing initiatives. Think of it as a living map, not a snapshot.

Your turn: Are your lessons alive or fossilised?

If forests can teach us anything, it’s that survival depends on connection and flow. Lessons learned should be the mycelial network of your organisation quietly powerful, continuously nourishing, and impossible to ignore.