Browsing & Filtering Lessons

Find relevant lessons quickly with powerful search, filters, and tabs

Updated 2026-03-3020 min read

Learn how to efficiently navigate your organization's lessons learned database to find relevant insights exactly when you need them.

Overview

As your lessons database grows, finding the right insights at the right time becomes critical. Cothon provides multiple ways to browse, search, and filter lessons so you can quickly surface relevant knowledge during bid preparation.

Note

Most organizations accumulate 50-100 lessons within the first year. Effective filtering becomes essential once you have 20+ lessons.

Accessing Lessons Learned

Navigate to Lessons Learned from the main menu. You'll land on the lessons dashboard, which provides several views of your knowledge base.

Tab-Based Views

The dashboard organizes lessons into tabs for quick access:

All Tab

Shows every lesson you have access to, sorted by most recent first.

What you see:

All published lessons (organization-wide and department-specific)
Lessons you created (including drafts)
Lessons shared with you explicitly

Default sort: Most recent first

Best for:

Catching up on recently added lessons
Browsing during downtime to build general knowledge
Seeing the full breadth of organizational learning

Wins Tab

Filters to show only successful bid outcomes.

Lesson types shown:

Win category lessons
Lessons linked to won bids
Success stories and effective strategies

Why it's useful:

Identify winning patterns to replicate
Find proven strategies for similar opportunities
Build confidence before major bids by reviewing past successes

Common use case: When preparing a bid, review wins from the same department or similar project type to understand what strategies worked.

Losses Tab

Filters to show only unsuccessful bid outcomes and mistakes to avoid.

Lesson types shown:

Loss category lessons
Lessons linked to lost bids
Failed approaches and pitfalls

Why it's useful:

Learn from past mistakes without repeating them
Identify weak areas in your bid approach
Understand competitive threats and how others beat you

Common use case: Before submitting a proposal, check losses with the same client or project type to avoid repeating mistakes.

Psychological Safety

Encourage your team to document losses honestly by creating a blameless culture. Frame losses as learning opportunities, not failures.

Process Tab

Filters to show operational and workflow improvements.

Lesson types shown:

Process category lessons
Workflow optimizations
Efficiency improvements
Tool and template enhancements

Why it's useful:

Improve your internal bid development process
Find best practices for team collaboration
Identify tool and template opportunities

Common use case: When planning a bid timeline, review process lessons to optimize your workflow and avoid known bottlenecks.

My Lessons Tab

Shows only lessons you created.

What you see:

Published lessons authored by you
Draft lessons in progress
Lessons pending review (if review gates are enabled)

Why it's useful:

Track your contributions to organizational knowledge
Resume editing draft lessons
Monitor approval status of submitted lessons

Endorsed Tab

Filters to show lessons with the most team endorsements.

Sorting: Highest endorsement count first

Why it's useful:

Quickly find the most valuable insights
See what the team considers most impactful
Identify high-quality lessons for new team member onboarding

Common use case: When time is limited, review top-endorsed lessons for your department or project type to get maximum value quickly.

Search Functionality

Basic Search

The search bar at the top of the dashboard supports:

Text search across:

Lesson titles
Lesson descriptions
Tags
Linked bid names
Author names
Department/client names

How it works: Type your search query and results update in real-time as you type.

Examples:

cloud migration - finds lessons mentioning cloud migration
ISED - finds lessons tagged with or mentioning ISED
pricing strategy - finds lessons about pricing approaches
Sarah Chen - finds lessons created by or mentioning Sarah Chen

Advanced Search

Click Advanced Search to access additional search capabilities:

Date Range:

Find lessons created within specific date ranges
Example: "Last 6 months", "2024 Q4", "Custom range"

Contract Value Range:

Filter by bid size
Example: "$500K - $2M", "Over $5M"

Outcome:

Won, Lost, No-Bid, Cancelled, Pending

Priority:

High, Medium, Low

Has Action Items:

Only show lessons with open action items
Only show lessons with completed action items

Has Attachments:

Filter to lessons with supporting documents

Semantic Search

Cothon uses AI-powered semantic search to find lessons by meaning, not just keyword matching.

How it differs from basic search:

Basic search: Matches exact words

Search: "proposal quality" → finds lessons with words "proposal" and "quality"

Semantic search: Understands intent and context

Search: "proposal quality" → also finds lessons about "document excellence," "writing standards," "reviewer feedback," "scoring improvements"

Enable semantic search: Toggle the Smart Search switch in the search bar.

When to use it:

Looking for concepts, not specific terms
Not sure what keywords were used
Want to find related lessons even if terminology differs

Example queries:

Query	What Semantic Search Finds
"team collaboration issues"	Lessons about communication problems, siloed work, coordination failures
"technical credibility"	Lessons about SME credentials, past performance, reference projects, team qualifications
"pricing too high"	Lessons about cost overruns, competitive pricing, budget constraints, value propositions
"timeline problems"	Lessons about schedule delays, resource conflicts, unrealistic estimates, milestone issues

Tip

Semantic search works better with natural language queries. Instead of keywords like "pricing strategy win," try a phrase like "how to price competitively while maintaining margins."

Filtering

The left sidebar provides comprehensive filtering options:

Category Filter

Filter by lesson type:

Win - Successful bids
Loss - Unsuccessful bids
Process - Workflow improvements
Technical - Technical learnings

Multiple selection: Check multiple categories to see lessons from any of the selected types.

Department/Client Filter

Filter by the government department or agency:

Most common:

Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED)
Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC)
Department of National Defence (DND)
Health Canada
Canada Revenue Agency (CRA)

Behavior: Shows count of lessons per department in parentheses.

Combining filters: Select multiple departments to see lessons from any of them.

Project Type Filter

Filter by the type of project:

Examples:

IT Services
Cloud Migration
Software Development
System Integration
Consulting
Infrastructure
Equipment
Cybersecurity

Custom types: Your organization may have custom project types specific to your industry.

Tags Filter

Filter by specific tags:

Tag categories automatically detected:

Technical areas (AWS, Azure, cybersecurity, etc.)
Methodologies (agile, phased-delivery, fixed-price, etc.)
Themes (pricing-strategy, timeline-management, risk-mitigation, etc.)

Tag cloud: Most frequently used tags appear larger.

Multiple tag selection:

AND logic (default): Show lessons with ALL selected tags
OR logic (toggle): Show lessons with ANY selected tag

Date Range Filter

Filter by when the lesson was created or when the bid occurred:

Presets:

Last 7 days
Last 30 days
Last 3 months
Last 6 months
Last year
Custom range

Two date types:

Lesson Created Date - When the lesson was documented
Bid Date - When the bid occurred (if linked to a bid)

Author Filter

Filter by who created the lesson:

Options:

All authors
Specific team member
Only me

Use case: Find all lessons from your most experienced bid manager to learn from their insights.

Endorsement Filter

Filter by team validation:

Options:

All lessons
Only endorsed (at least 1 endorsement)
Highly endorsed (5+ endorsements)
Top endorsed (10+ endorsements)

Why filter by endorsements: Surfacing the most valuable lessons saves time and ensures quality.

Action Item Status Filter

Filter by action item completion:

Options:

All lessons
Has open action items
All action items completed
No action items

Use case: Find lessons with open action items to track follow-through on improvements.

Contract Value Filter

Filter by bid size:

Range presets:

Under $100K
$100K - $500K
$500K - $1M
$1M - $5M
Over $5M
Custom range

Why it matters: Lessons from similarly-sized bids are often more relevant than those from vastly different scales.

Combining Filters

Filters work together with AND logic—lessons must match ALL selected filters.

Example 1: Find Relevant Wins

Goal: Prepare for an ISED cloud migration RFP worth $2M

Filter combination:

Tab: Wins
Department: ISED
Project Type: Cloud Migration
Contract Value: $1M - $5M
Date Range: Last 2 years

Result: Lessons from successful ISED cloud migration bids of similar size in the past 2 years.

Example 2: Learn from Recent Mistakes

Goal: Avoid repeating recent team errors

Filter combination:

Tab: Losses
Date Range: Last 6 months
Tags: Any tags relevant to your upcoming bid
Has Action Items: Yes

Result: Recent losses with documented improvement actions to avoid repeating mistakes.

Example 3: Find Process Improvements

Goal: Optimize your proposal development workflow

Filter combination:

Tab: Process
Endorsement: Highly endorsed (5+)
Has Action Items: Yes, completed

Result: Proven process improvements that were valuable enough to get team endorsements and were actually implemented.

Sorting Options

Change the order lessons appear:

Most Recent First (Default)

Shows newest lessons at the top.

Best for:

Catching up on what's new
Seeing recent bid outcomes
Finding fresh insights

Oldest First

Shows earliest lessons first.

Best for:

Understanding historical context
Reading lessons chronologically
Onboarding new team members with foundational knowledge

Most Endorsed

Shows lessons with highest endorsement count first.

Best for:

Finding the most valuable insights quickly
Limited time to review lessons
Building a "greatest hits" reading list

Highest Contract Value

Shows lessons from largest bids first.

Best for:

Major bid preparation
Strategic decision-making
Executive briefings

Alphabetical (A-Z)

Sorts lessons by title alphabetically.

Best for:

Finding a specific lesson by name
Organizing knowledge systematically
Creating references or indexes

Lesson Cards

Each lesson appears as a card with key information:

Card Content

Header:

Lesson title (clickable to open full lesson)
Category badge (Win, Loss, Process, Technical)
Date created

Metadata:

Author name and avatar
Department/client
Project type
Contract value (if applicable)

Preview:

First 2-3 lines of the lesson description
Tag list (first 5 tags shown, "..." if more)

Engagement indicators:

Endorsement count
Comment count
View count
Action item status (X/Y completed)

Actions:

Endorse button
Share button
Bookmark button
More menu (edit, delete, export)

Quick Actions from Cards

Endorse: Click the thumbs-up icon to endorse a valuable lesson. Your endorsement is counted and your name is added to the endorser list.

Bookmark: Click the bookmark icon to save the lesson to your personal reading list for quick access later.

Share: Click the share icon to:

Copy link to lesson
Share via email
Share to specific team members with optional message
Create public share link (if permissions allow)

More Options Menu:

View full details
Edit (if you're the author or have permissions)
Duplicate (create a new lesson based on this one)
Export to PDF
Delete (if you're the author or have admin permissions)

Reading List & Bookmarks

Bookmarking Lessons

Save lessons for later review:

To bookmark: Click the bookmark icon on any lesson card or detail page.

To view bookmarks: Click My Bookmarks in the top navigation or sidebar.

Organizing bookmarks:

Add notes to bookmarks (why you saved it, how you plan to use it)
Tag bookmarks for organization
Create bookmark folders (e.g., "For Next Bid", "Team Onboarding", "Process Ideas")

Reading History

Cothon tracks which lessons you've read:

Access history: Click your profile icon → Reading History

What you see:

Lessons you've viewed
When you viewed them
How long you spent reading
Whether you endorsed or commented

Use case: Quickly return to a lesson you read last week without searching for it again.

Endorsing Lessons

Endorsements help the team identify the most valuable insights.

How to Endorse

Click the thumbs-up icon on any lesson card or detail page. Your endorsement is immediately counted.

Why Endorse

For the team:

Surfaces the best lessons for others
Validates valuable insights
Encourages lesson creation

For the author:

Recognizes their contribution
Motivates continued participation
Shows impact of their work

For yourself:

Marks lessons you found useful (serves as a personal reference)
Contributes to lesson quality scoring

Endorsement Etiquette

Do endorse when:

The lesson taught you something new
You successfully applied the lesson to a bid
The lesson prevented a mistake
The recommendations are specific and actionable

Don't endorse when:

You haven't read the full lesson
The lesson doesn't apply to your role
You're endorsing just to be nice

Tip

Organizations with active endorsement cultures see 2-3x higher lesson reuse rates compared to those where endorsements are rare.

Commenting on Lessons

Add your perspective to existing lessons:

How to Comment

Open the full lesson detail page
Scroll to the Comments section at the bottom
Type your comment in the text box
Click Post Comment

What to Comment

Good comments add value:

Additional context or examples
Related experiences from other bids
Questions for clarification
Updates on action item implementation
Alternative approaches to consider

Example good comment:

"We applied the daily standup approach from this lesson on the DND cybersecurity bid and saw similar results—reduced revisions from 6 to 3 cycles. One addition: we found starting standups at day -21 instead of day -14 gave us even more benefit for complex bids over 100 pages."

Poor comments:

"Great lesson!" (not specific)
Off-topic discussions
Arguments or criticism without constructive suggestions

Comment Features

Rich text formatting:

Bold, italic, bullet lists
Links to related lessons or bids
@mentions to notify team members

Notifications:

Lesson author is notified of new comments
@mentioned users receive notifications
You're notified of replies to your comments

Editing and deletion:

Edit your own comments within 24 hours
Delete your own comments anytime
Admins can moderate inappropriate comments

Saved Filters

Save your commonly used filter combinations for quick access.

Creating Saved Filters

Using Saved Filters

Access saved filters: Click the Filters dropdown and select from your saved filters.

Common saved filters:

Filter Name	Configuration	Use Case
"Recent Wins - My Department"	Category: Win, Department: ISED, Date: Last 6 months	Quick review of recent successes
"High-Value Losses"	Category: Loss, Value: Over $1M, Endorsed: Yes	Learn from major bid failures
"Process Improvements - Implemented"	Category: Process, Action Items: All Completed	See what changes were actually made
"Relevant to Current Bid"	Custom tags matching current opportunity	Scoped research for active bids

Managing Saved Filters

Edit: Update filter criteria or name

Share: Make a personal filter available to your team

Duplicate: Create variations of existing filters

Delete: Remove filters you no longer use

Bulk Actions

Select multiple lessons for batch operations:

How to Select

Click the checkbox on lesson cards to select them. Click Select All to select all lessons matching your current filters (up to 100 at a time).

Available Bulk Actions

Export:

Export selected lessons to PDF
Export to CSV (title, category, tags, date, etc.)
Export to Word document

Tag:

Add tags to multiple lessons at once
Useful for categorizing legacy lessons

Move to Folder:

Organize lessons into folders (if your organization uses folders)

Change Visibility:

Update access permissions for multiple lessons

Bulk Delete:

Remove multiple lessons (admin only, requires confirmation)

Mobile Experience

The lessons browser is fully responsive for mobile use:

Mobile-Optimized Features

Card view: Simplified cards show essential info with tap-to-expand details

Filter drawer: Filters appear in a slide-out drawer to preserve screen space

Swipe actions:

Swipe right to endorse
Swipe left for more options
Long-press to select multiple

Search focus: Mobile search emphasizes the most important filters (category, date, department)

Offline reading: Bookmarked lessons are cached for offline access when you lose connectivity

Keyboard Shortcuts

Speed up navigation with keyboard shortcuts:

Shortcut	Action
	Focus search bar
	Open advanced filters
	Endorse selected lesson
	Bookmark selected lesson
	Next lesson (down)
	Previous lesson (up)
	Open selected lesson
	Close lesson detail
	Create new lesson