learning-tracker

name	learning-tracker
description	Use this to trace lessons across months - learned once, learned slowly, forgotten, or never turned into a system.

Learning Tracker

The Big Idea

A lesson is not learned when it is stated. It is learned when behavior changes and stays changed. Track corrections longitudinally: lesson appears in month N, then check months N+1, N+2, N+3 for behavior.

The Six Verdicts

For every recurring lesson assign one:

Verdict	Meaning
LEARNED ONCE	stated once, behavior changed permanently
LEARNED SLOWLY	needed 3+ corrections before sticking
KNOWN BUT NOT APPLIED	explained fluently, violated anyway
REPEATEDLY FORGOTTEN	reappears every few weeks like weather
MECHANICALLY SOLVED	converted to a test, hook, script, or lint
NO LONGER RELEVANT	the context disappeared

What to Mine

• concepts re-explained across months (the tutor tax)
• mistakes corrected more than twice
• principles that transferred successfully between projects
• knowledge that failed to transfer between projects
• lessons that should become external tooling instead of memory

The Critical Split

Separate KNOWLEDGE GAP from EXECUTION GAP. They need opposite fixes.

• Knowledge gap -> explanation, example, reference card.
• Execution gap -> friction change: test, hook, checklist, default. Explaining harder does nothing; the subject already knows.

When It Backfires

• Counting restated lessons as retained. Restating is rehearsal, not retention. Look for applied behavior.
• Blaming memory for what is really workflow design. If a lesson must be remembered at 2am under deadline, it will be forgotten. Move it into tooling.

One-Line Memory

A lesson corrected twice belongs in a script, not a memory.