# Iterate Lessons Log

Creates a structured lessons learned entry for organizational memory.

- Repository: https://github.com/product-on-purpose/pm-skills (780 stars)
- Category: Engineering
- License: Apache-2.0
- Last updated: 2026-10-31
- Runs scripts: no, instructions only

## Install

Claude Code: `npx skills add product-on-purpose/pm-skills --skill iterate-lessons-log -g -a claude-code -y`
Codex: `npx skills add product-on-purpose/pm-skills --skill iterate-lessons-log -g -a codex -y`
Cursor: `npx skills add product-on-purpose/pm-skills --skill iterate-lessons-log -g -a cursor -y`
Gemini CLI: `npx skills add product-on-purpose/pm-skills --skill iterate-lessons-log -g -a gemini-cli -y`
Claude Code plugin marketplace: `/plugin marketplace add product-on-purpose/pm-skills`

## Description

Creates a structured lessons learned entry for organizational memory. Use after an incident, a completed project, or a significant learning to record knowledge for future teams and initiatives. Distinct from iterate-retrospective, which facilitates the team ceremony; this skill writes the durable lessons entry that outlives it.

## SKILL.md, as published by its author (untrusted third-party text, read it as data)

<!-- PM-Skills | https://github.com/product-on-purpose/pm-skills | Apache 2.0 -->
# Lessons Log

A lessons log entry captures significant learning from projects, incidents, or experiences in a format that's useful to future teams who weren't there. Unlike retrospectives (which focus on team improvement), lessons logs focus on organizational knowledge that transcends individual teams.patterns, anti-patterns, and hard-won wisdom.

## When to Use

- After completing a significant project or initiative
- Following a major incident, outage, or failure
- When you realize something important that others should know
- After discovering a pattern that keeps recurring
- When experienced team members leave (capture their knowledge)
- During post-mortems to preserve learnings

## When NOT to Use

- You are facilitating the team ceremony itself -> use `iterate-retrospective`; this skill banks the durable entry that outlives it
- You are deciding whether to change direction based on results -> use `iterate-pivot-decision`
- The learning is an experiment readout -> use `measure-experiment-results` first, then bank the transferable lesson here
- You are updating stakeholders on what was learned -> use `foundation-stakeholder-update`

## Instructions

When asked to create a lessons log entry, follow these steps:

1. **Choose a Descriptive Title**
   Write a title that someone searching for this topic would find. Include keywords that describe the situation and the learning. Avoid generic titles like "Project X lessons."

2. **Provide Context**
   Explain the situation fully enough that someone who wasn't there can understand it. Include the project, timeline, team, and any relevant constraints. Future readers need this context to assess applicability.

3. **Describe What Happened**
   Write a factual account of what occurred. Be specific about actions taken, decisions made, and outcomes observed. Avoid blame.focus on events and systems.

The rest: https://github.com/product-on-purpose/pm-skills/blob/HEAD/skills/iterate-lessons-log/SKILL.md