Knowledge Retention Tracking

As a young VC, I find myself diving into numerous books, each promising to offer a fresh perspective or insight. Yet, the challenge lies in truly absorbing and retaining the valuable lessons they contain. This changed when I discovered Shane Parrish’s Blank Sheet Method.....a straightforward, yet powerful approach that transformed my learning process. 🔹 Step 1: Set the Stage - Before starting any book, grab a blank sheet of paper. - On this sheet, outline what you already know about the topic. 🔹Step 2: Track Your Progress - At the end of each reading session, spend a few minutes updating your mind map using a different color to highlight new insights. 🔹 Step 3: Review and Reinforce - Before picking up the book again, go through your mind map to refresh your memory. - This review process helps solidify your grasp on what you’ve read and primes your brain to link upcoming ideas with what you already know. 🔹 Step 4: Build a Knowledge Vault - Keep these annotated sheets organized in a binder for easy access. - Regularly review them to reinforce your learning and connect concepts across various books and subjects. Why This Method Works Wonders: - Strengthens memory by recalling and building upon what you know. - Identifies missing pieces and clears up misconceptions. - Helps in connecting themes across disciplines - Stimulates unique thinking and insights - Periodic review solidifies information With each book, I find that my understanding grows not just in depth but in scope, creating a network of knowledge that extends far beyond a single subject. Have you tried using this or any other method for better retention? I’d love to hear what’s worked for you! #ReadingWisdom #LearningMethods #VentureLife #KnowledgeRetention

Procurement teams forget more than they remember. And that's because the organisation forgets faster than individuals can hold the memory. Every 18–24 months, someone re-learns a lesson the company already paid for. ✔️A supplier that failed a project in 2019 gets back in the door by 2022. ✔️A contract clause that caused a dispute is re-used, unchanged. ✔️A workaround created for “just this one case” quietly becomes default practice. ✔️Stakeholders bypass procurement again using the same rationale they used the last time it failed. If you ask around, people remember these things but their memory isn’t institutional. It lives in inboxes, handovers, Teams chats, and resignation letters. This is the quiet cost of poor knowledge retention in procurement which is often mistaken for a talent problem. Procurement memory is the collective, institutional ability to retain: - What went wrong (and why) - What worked (and how) - What we’ve already tried (and who with) - What we learned from suppliers, markets, and projects - Which workarounds quietly became norms Most of this is undocumented. Or trapped in post-project reports that no one reads. And so when a new team member joins, or someone shifts categories, or a project comes up that’s just like something we’ve done before… We start from zero. When procurement forgets, the business remembers procurement as slow, reactive, and unstrategic, even when the team did exactly what was needed. What’s missing? We have data. We have dashboards. We have supplier portals and ERP records. But we rarely have context or the data narrative We don’t keep the story of what happened, why it mattered, and what we learned. We don’t have a culture of procurement storytelling, just reporting. That’s why mistakes repeat. That’s why we can’t defend decisions from three years ago. That’s why every new CPO spends the first year “re-evaluating the landscape.” So how do you build memory? You build memory with habits. ☑️ Capture lessons in a way people can read and reuse ☑️ Log supplier outcomes beyond the scorecard ☑️ Keep short, human write-ups of key projects ☑️ Store reasoning, not just results When people leave, do memory handovers not just task ones ☑️Make “what did we learn?” a standing agenda item ☑️Revisit closed projects before starting similar ones ☑️Assign memory as a role, not an afterthought And above all, treat memory like a capability. Not a bonus, not a nice-to-have but an actual risk if missing. Procurement's memory is one of its most strategic assets. Without it, the work gets done but the value disappears the minute people do. ----- Did you enjoy this post? Then you may also like my biweekly free newsletter, The Procurement Blueprint! Subscribe here: https://lnkd.in/eg5C2b5i

5,800 course completions in 30 days 🥳 Amazing! But... What does that even mean? Did anyone actually learn anything? As an instructional designer, part of your role SHOULD be measuring impact. Did the learning solution you built matter? Did it help someone do their job better, quicker, with more efficiency, empathy, and enthusiasm? In this L&D world, there's endless talk about measuring success. Some say it's impossible... It's not. Enter the Impact Quadrant. With measureable data + time, you CAN track the success of your initiatives. But you've got to have a process in place to do it. Here are some ideas: 1. Quick Wins (Short-Term + Quantitative) → “Immediate Data Wins” How to track: ➡️ Course completion rates ➡️ Pre/post-test scores ➡️ Training attendance records ➡️ Immediate survey ratings (e.g., “Was this training helpful?”) 📣 Why it matters: Provides fast, measurable proof that the initiative is working. 2. Big Wins (Long-Term + Quantitative) → “Sustained Success” How to track: ➡️ Retention rates of trained employees via follow-up knowledge checks ➡️ Compliance scores over time ➡️ Reduction in errors/incidents ➡️ Job performance metrics (e.g., productivity increase, customer satisfaction) 📣 Why it matters: Demonstrates lasting impact with hard data. 3. Early Signals (Short-Term + Qualitative) → “Small Signs of Change” How to track: ➡️ Learner feedback (open-ended survey responses) ➡️ Documented manager observations ➡️ Engagement levels in discussions or forums ➡️ Behavioral changes noticed soon after training 📣 Why it matters: Captures immediate, anecdotal evidence of success. 4. Cultural Shift (Long-Term + Qualitative) → “Lasting Change” Tracking Methods: ➡️ Long-term learner sentiment surveys ➡️ Leadership feedback on workplace culture shifts ➡️ Self-reported confidence and behavior changes ➡️ Adoption of continuous learning mindset (e.g., employees seeking more training) 📣 Why it matters: Proves deep, lasting change that numbers alone can’t capture. If you’re only tracking one type of impact, you’re leaving insights—and results—on the table. The best instructional design hits all four quadrants: quick wins, sustained success, early signals, and lasting change. Which ones are you measuring? #PerformanceImprovement #InstructionalDesign #Data #Science #DataScience #LearningandDevelopment

Following up on this week's military language training story... Here's exactly how we transformed skill retention for thousands of military professionals: The challenge: Create a system that maintains critical language skills in the demanding schedules of military personnel. The solution: Language Keeper, an AI-powered language partner built on Glide (glideapps.com) ✅ Personalized AI feedback that adapts to each user's specific skill gaps and learning patterns. ✅ Anywhere, anytime access that fits into military schedules—whether deployed overseas or between missions. ✅ Intelligent progress tracking that identifies declining skills before they become operational problems. ✅ Adaptive learning paths that target weak areas while reinforcing strengths. The results that matter: → 70% more lesson completions compared to traditional methods → 90% user approval rating → Year-round language skill maintenance instead of periodic decay

Studies indicate we lose up to 90% of new information within 3 days. That said, if we review this information within 24 hours, it’s been shown that we retain up to 80% of what we just learned. If we review again within 48 hours, that retention goes up to 85%, and if we review AGAIN within 72 hours, odds are we retain most if not all the material. This is spaced repetition and if you have new hire training or ongoing work trainings coming up, it could be a good idea to use this method. Here’s what it looks like in the real world: Yesterday was day 1 of our company’s 3-Day advanced training program to help us master a certain area we cover. - I limited distractions and took notes during the call. - After dinner, I reviewed what I learned for simply 5 minutes. - This AM before heading out, I took out a sheet of paper and wrote down every detail I could remember off the top of my head from the training yesterday to see what I retained and what gaps to fill. - At work today, my goal is to purposely get into convos with customers to practice what I learned and ask questions about their experience on the topic. - 15 minutes prior to today’s training, I’ll do another quick review of my notes from yesterday. - I’ll focus and take notes during today’s training, and later tonight will review what I learned yesterday AND today. - Tomorrow AM I’ll do another session where I’ll write out everything I can remember from the past 2 days off the top of my head, and will see what gaps are left. - I’ll sprinkle in a call with my 2 FSTs 🫱🏼🫲🏽 - Then I’ll repeat for day 3. At the end of this 3-day training, the goal is to get closer to mastery and be a more trusted advisor to my customers, help serve more patients, and as a result, help the company brand and sales. With this meaningful goal, the stakes are higher and makes my focus and excitement to learn increase. If you have a lot of new material to learn, I suggest getting serious about WHY it’s so important that you learn it and what life will look like if you master it. I also suggest looking into Jim Kwik ASAP. Good luck out here everybody. If you have a favorite method of learning, let me know! Include an example of when and how you used it too if you’re willing 🫱🏼🫲🏽