Most, if not all, ‘in charge’ people are seeking to move their project, program, or organization to ‘the next level.’ What they may not realize is that moving to the next level is not an exercise of pooling all of your resources and knowledge. The next level arrives when you have abandoned all you think you know, in order to learn what you do not. Learning how to unlearn is the attainment of the next level.
Every organization has to prepare for the abandonment of everything it does. –Peter Drucker
Unlearning is an intentional activity that addresses the discrepancy between the current reality and the existing body of knowledge. Engaging in this intentional process in preparation for change or to effectively manage change is difficult primarily because there is a lack of conscious awareness that the current behaviors and / or knowledge no longer work.
Too often individuals and organizations blame the environment, and not their inability to deal with the changing landscape, as a reason for failure. This is the foremost indicator that a mindset change is needed and learning and unlearning must be instilled in either the individual or the organization.
Unlearning is the key not only to effectively managing change, but also for generating new knowledge. The unlearning organization is always looking for ways to improve, always fixing what isn’t broken.
But learning to unlearn is extremely challenging. Habitual ways of seeing and responding to the environment are difficult to step out of, and the need to do so is perhaps the most challenging aspect of developing strategic thinking. It only results from systematic practice and discipline.
Unlearning requires:
- Seeing what needs to be changed
- Big picture thinking
- Willingness to let go
- Introspection
Winning organizations are willing to take the time to practice unlearning so that they can do what they do better, and go further than they thought they could.
Reference:
Pourdehnad, John, Warren, Bruce, Wright, Maureen, Mairano, John. Unlearning/Learning Organizations – The Role of Mindset, Ackoff Center for Advancement of Systems Approaches, University of Pennsylvania, Department of Electrical and Systems Engineering.
