Unlearn

1. Unlearning: The Key to Extraordinary Results

"To succeed, it's critical for everyone, from executives to entrepreneurs, to know how to let go of behavior and methods that have helped them achieve in the past but are now limiting."

Unlearning defined. Unlearning is the process of letting go of outdated mindsets and behaviors that once brought success but now limit progress. It's not about forgetting knowledge, but consciously moving away from obsolete information to embrace new perspectives.

Why unlearn? In today's rapidly changing world, what worked yesterday may not work tomorrow. Leaders and organizations must constantly adapt to stay competitive. Unlearning allows for:

• Embracing new technologies and methodologies
• Adapting to changing market conditions
• Fostering innovation and creativity
• Improving personal and organizational performance

Examples of unlearning:

• Serena Williams changing her tennis techniques to win more Grand Slams
• Disney reimagining its theme park experience with MagicBands
• Companies shifting from traditional management to more agile approaches

2. The Cycle of Unlearning: A System for Transformation

"Unlearning is not an event. It is ongoing and continuous—a habit and deliberate practice in itself."

The three-step cycle. The Cycle of Unlearning consists of three interconnected steps:

1. Unlearn: Identify and let go of limiting beliefs and behaviors
2. Relearn: Experiment with new approaches and gather new information
3. Breakthrough: Achieve extraordinary results and insights

Continuous improvement. This cycle is not a one-time event but a continuous process of growth and adaptation. Each iteration builds upon the previous one, leading to compounding results over time.

Application in various domains:

• Personal development
• Organizational transformation
• Product innovation
• Leadership practices

3. Overcoming Obstacles to Unlearning

"The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it."

Common barriers to unlearning:

• Fear of change and uncertainty
• Ego and the desire to always be correct
• Comfort in familiar routines and practices
• Organizational culture resistant to new ideas

Strategies for overcoming obstacles:

1. Cultivate self-awareness and humility
2. Create a safe environment for experimentation
3. Encourage curiosity and continuous learning
4. Celebrate small wins and progress

Mindset shift. Overcoming obstacles to unlearning requires a fundamental shift in mindset from fixed to growth. Leaders must foster an environment where mistakes are seen as opportunities for learning and improvement.

4. Unlearn: Let Go of Past Success

"We cannot resolve a problem by using the same thinking that created it."

Identifying what to unlearn. The first step in the Cycle of Unlearning is recognizing which beliefs, behaviors, or practices are holding you back. This requires:

• Self-reflection and honest assessment
• Seeking feedback from others
• Analyzing current results and outcomes

Letting go process:

1. Acknowledge the need for change
2. Challenge assumptions and long-held beliefs
3. Visualize desired outcomes
4. Commit to taking action

Courage over comfort. Unlearning often requires stepping out of your comfort zone and embracing uncertainty. It's about choosing courage over comfort to achieve extraordinary results.

5. Relearn: Experiment with New Behaviors

"Relearning is the space where you can experiment—where you can get to grips with uncertainty—through deliberate, practical, and experiential learning."

Think big, start small. Relearning involves:

• Setting ambitious goals
• Breaking them down into small, manageable steps
• Experimenting with new behaviors and approaches

Safe-to-fail experiments. Design small experiments that allow for quick feedback and learning without catastrophic consequences. This approach:

• Reduces risk
• Accelerates learning
• Builds confidence in new methods

BJ Fogg's Behavior Model. Apply the B=MAP formula:

• Motivation: Desire to change
• Ability: Make the new behavior easy to do
• Prompt: Create triggers for the new behavior

6. Breakthrough: Achieve Extraordinary Results

"Breakthrough is the result of unlearning and then relearning—it's the new information and insights that come out of the first two steps of the cycle."

Characteristics of breakthroughs:

• Radical shifts in perspective
• Significant improvements in performance
• New solutions to old problems
• Unexpected insights and innovations

Reflection and iteration. After achieving a breakthrough:

• Analyze what worked and what didn't
• Identify lessons learned
• Apply insights to future cycles of unlearning

Scaling breakthroughs. Use the momentum and insights gained from initial breakthroughs to tackle larger, more complex challenges. This creates a virtuous cycle of continuous improvement and innovation.

7. Unlearning Management: Redefining Leadership

"You manage things; you lead people."

Shifting from command to empowerment. Modern leadership requires:

• Providing clarity of purpose and direction
• Empowering team members to make decisions
• Creating systems that allow for experimentation and learning

Key leadership behaviors to unlearn:

• Micromanagement
• Always having the answer
• Punishing mistakes

Relearning leadership:

• Cultivate psychological safety
• Encourage diverse perspectives
• Focus on outcomes rather than outputs
• Lead by example in unlearning and adapting

8. Customer-Centric Unlearning: Listening and Adapting

"The best way to get useful information is not to sit in rooms and listen to your people tell you what's wrong with the company. The best way to get actionable information is to ask your customers, putting yourself in their shoes to understand what's really happening."

Direct customer engagement. Leaders should:

• Actively seek unfiltered customer feedback
• Use multiple channels (e.g., social media, direct conversations)
• Respond quickly to customer insights

Continuous adaptation. Use customer feedback to:

• Identify areas for improvement
• Drive product and service innovation
• Align organizational priorities with customer needs

Examples of customer-centric unlearning:

• T-Mobile's "Un-carrier" strategy
• Elon Musk's real-time response to customer complaints on Twitter
• Disney's MagicBand development process

9. Organizational Unlearning: Fostering a Learning Culture

"Teaching a growth mindset creates motivation and productivity in the worlds of business, education, and sports. It enhances relationships."

Characteristics of a learning organization:

• Continuous learning at all levels
• Sharing of knowledge and best practices
• Embracing failure as a learning opportunity
• Adapting quickly to change

Strategies for fostering a learning culture:

1. Encourage experimentation and risk-taking
2. Provide resources for learning and development
3. Recognize and reward learning behaviors
4. Create systems for knowledge sharing

NASA's transformation. After the Columbia disaster, NASA implemented a new system of learning that encouraged:

• Sharing mistakes and lessons learned
• Cross-functional collaboration
• Transparent information sharing

10. Incentives: Aligning Rewards with Desired Outcomes

"The iron rule of nature is: You get what you reward for."

Problems with traditional incentives:

• Focus on short-term results
• Encourage individual over team performance
• Drive negative behaviors (e.g., Wells Fargo account scandal)

Principles for effective incentives:

1. Align rewards with system-level outcomes
2. Balance financial and non-financial incentives
3. Encourage long-term thinking and sustainable growth
4. Promote collaboration and knowledge sharing

Capital One's cloud transformation. The company successfully aligned individual efforts with organizational outcomes by:

• Creating visible system-level metrics (Cloudometer)
• Recognizing and rewarding learning and skill development
• Fostering a culture of continuous improvement

11. Business Innovation: Thinking Big, Starting Small

"We came to the realization that if we could leverage the existing system's natural constraints, it might be more effective to think big but start small."

Principles of effective innovation:

• Set ambitious goals but start with small, manageable steps
• Create safe-to-fail experiments
• Engage users and stakeholders early and often
• Iterate based on feedback and real-world results

NHS Spine 2 project success:

• Broke down large project into smaller, manageable chunks
• Focused on delivering critical features first
• Continuously engaged users in the development process
• Achieved significant cost savings and performance improvements

Overcoming obstacles to innovation:

• Challenge assumptions about what's possible
• Use constraints as catalysts for creativity
• Protect innovative teams from organizational resistance
• Celebrate and learn from both successes and failures

Last updated: November 21, 2024