“Can’t Remember What I Forgot:” Investigating Organizational Forgetting Within a Project-Based Organization

This article is based on the study of an engineering organization that is experiencing major difficulties on its first new project in 10 years. It contributes to the literature on organizational forgetting in project-based organizations, examining how this phenomenon can be perceived and assessed. The analysis of the data provides a better understanding of the conditions under which a situation of accidental forgetting can be (mis)identified. The case reveals that, due to five sources of ambiguity linked to the identification process—latency, novelty, multiplicity, complexity, and credibility—the forgetting phenomenon may be underestimated or the subject of contradictory assessments within the organization.