ABSTRACT
Developing knowledge in the first place—that is, debriefing—costs us a great deal of time and organizational or personal exertion. It sure seems to be a waste to invest this time and energy if the knowledge is buried in a huge pile of organizational documents, with no one knowing where or what it contains. A knowledgebase is a database containing knowledge. The knowledgebase is an effective way to enable organizations to properly manage their lessons. The values of lessons, however, define the context in which each lesson is applicable. If a lesson was learned following an orthopedic surgery, it also may be applicable to heart surgeries. A lessons-learned knowledgebase is a combination of four components: the lesson's body, context-based attributes, fixed attributes, and hyperlinks and attachments. Regrettably, searching for lessons to learn has further organizational implications.
