“Learn.Unlearn.Relearn”. Alvin Toffler’s quote has become a global meme. Organisational cultures and strategies are built around these now famous words. But while we focus a great deal of effort nowadays on learning and relearning, we don’t really know what unlearning requires from us.
Adam Grant, Professor of Organisational Psychology at Wharton, said it best: “It takes curiosity to learn. It takes courage to unlearn. Learning requires the humility to admit what you do not know today. Unlearning requires the integrity to admit you were wrong yesterday. Learning is how we evolve. Unlearning is how we keep up as the world evolves.”
I am of the view that while learning is needed for skills to shift, unlearning is needed for mindsets to shift. Only then will our futures be better than our pasts.
So have a Learning Culture. But also have an Unlearning Culture.
