Personal lessons learned

As projects conclude, or milestones are reached, one of the practices I have adopted over time is to stop, reflect on the things that I have learned from that project – and to add them to my personal lessons learned register. Often these are tips and tricks picked up from others, and in other cases, they are more in-depth findings about what contributes to project success. But doing it for the closure of a project phase helps to reinforce the things that were good, bad (and otherwise) while they are still fresh and front of mind.

So, as my time on the Lending Transformation project at Bendigo & Adelaide Bank nears its end, I have started to consider what lessons I will add to my career lessons learned register; the three things that come immediately to mind are:

1/ Just get going. A lot of times, we can bias towards preparation rather than execution – and spend a lot of time and energy getting ready to do something (e.g. establish a process, implement governance) rather than getting on with actually doing it. Things are rarely perfect in the first instance and invariably are improved once activities are set in motion. And, working together will invariably get a better outcome. Which leads to…

2/ Next right thing. Projects can be tough, and even when we have clear vision and objectives the path to achieve that vision is not necessarily straight forward. This is not to be confused with “quick wins” or “low hanging fruit” which can provide a more direct realisation of benefits. Quick wins are about a rapid achievement, but on a long difficult project there is often a clear next step in the right direction, even if the subsequent ones are not. And, by taking that first step we will be far better informed about the next one. To take a navigation analogy – we know we are driving from Melbourne to Sydney; lets head North and we can work out where to stop for fuel once we get going. So, (with apologies parents of young children and other fans of Frozen), when faced with uncertainty, focus on doing the next right thing. (And, no – this is not a substitute to proper, detailed planning.)

3/ In person is powerful. We are all familiar with the restrictions of 2020/21 and the ongoing remote work and most of us appreciate the flexibility that is now available. However, the final lesson for my personal register is how powerful it can be getting people together in person. Getting people into a room, around a white board, talking to each other over sticky notes and index cards can be astonishingly productive. And this productivity usually extends into weeks beyond as the shared experience continues to resonate. We have run many quarterly planning sessions throughout the project, and they often didn’t go entirely to plan – but they were always productive.

The personal lessons I take from every project shape how I approach the next. This is far from an exhaustive list but these are the three I’ll be adding this time.