Lessons not learnt: Improving learning transfer in project

This paper explores, project management literature, observations, and primary data from an unpaired experiment to explore the benefits lesson learnt methodologies can bring to future and ongoing projects. Within project management literature, learning and development is agreed as a benefit to the innovation of future projects. However, modern day practice of projects overlooks the lessons learnt process as a vital component to innovation in a project setting. Using a sample of Project Management MSc students to create unpaired experiment to produce quantifiable scientific data that may produce evidence to identify these benefits, barriers and methods to overcome those barriers. The data collected provides supporting evidence that lessons learnt methodologies can improve the identification of mitigation actions for projects. The data supports lessons learnt practice, because it shows that the normative practice of projects is a subject that needs to be developed. The lack of using lessons learnt in modern practice is explored to understand how the hard paradigm project management has created strict constraints to learning transfer, producing less time to implement effective lessons learnt. In addition, social cohesion works on human beings to make them reluctant to learn from previous social constructs in both negative and positive settings. The experiment provided evidence of how these natural barriers to learning transfer may be partially overcome.