Abstract: A Chinese expression says, “An experience learned increases one' s knowledge.”Learning frompast dam failures allows us to gain wisdom to ensure dam safety by detecting possible deficiencies /defects for a dam under performance evaluation.As lessons learned, some typical potential failure modes (PFMs) and associated root causes (i.e., risk factors and possible reasons) were introduced for three common types of dams.A flow chart was provided to address the procedures of the recently developed PFMA methodology. A collaborative teamwork was emphasized. The views expressed here do not necessarily represent the views of any federal agency of the U.S.A.