Tips on how to unlearn to relearn

Struggling to learn new tricks? Perhaps you need to let go of some old ones first

In an era of rapidly accelerating technological change, the need to unlearn what we know is greater than ever. It wasn’t so long ago that knowing how to use a fax machine was a key cutting-edge communications skill. Now, it’s learning how to communicate on various types of social media and working in tandem with artificial intelligence.

Unlearning can be trickier than learning. We have a natural tendency to cling to our existing ways of doing things and breaking that cycle requires awareness and a degree of objectivity about ourselves that can be hard to attain.

To attain knowledge, add things every day. To attain wisdom, remove things every day

- Lao Tzu -

Open the floodgates

So, how long does it take to pick up a new skill? When existing knowledge interferes with the brain’s ability to accept new information, learning can become slower and more challenging. Part of the reason we find unlearning such a challenge is our reluctance to think radically about the future. Southern Methodist University business school professors, David Lei and John Slocum, say that the more disruptive the technology, the more difficult it is to forget existing product-development approaches and business models.

The term “unlearning”, however, is somewhat misleading. The process of expunging knowledge, habits or behaviour is referred to by psychologists as extinction. According to a study conducted in 2008 by the University of California-San Diego, our brains are bombarded with the equivalent of 34Gb of information a day. This number will only increase with time.

The best way to unlearn old habits is to flood your brain with new ones that crowd them out. Think of language immersion programmes when learning a foreign language. Adeo Ressi, CEO of Silicon Valley incubator The Founder Institute, discovered that it typically takes former corporate employees three and a half months to unlearn enough bad habits that they’re ready to become entrepreneurs.

Above The most effective method to break free from old habits is to bombard your brain with new ones (Photo: Getty Images)

This is bananas

The classic demonstration of the value of unlearning is known as the Five Monkeys Experiment. The popular story is often used in organisational and business contexts to illustrate the dangers of following traditional practices without questioning their current relevance or rationale.

According to the tale, five monkeys are placed in a cage with a ladder leading to bananas hanging from the ceiling. Whenever a monkey tries to climb the ladder to get to the bananas, all of the monkeys are sprayed with cold water. Eventually, the monkeys learn not to climb the ladder to avoid the unpleasant consequence. The experimenters then replace one of the monkeys with a new one who, unaware of the cold water, goes for the bananas and is attacked by the others to prevent him from doing so. This process is repeated until all the original monkeys are replaced.

None of the new monkeys ever experience the cold water, yet they all learn not to climb the ladder, continuing the behaviour for no other reason than “that’s how it's always been done here.”

Above Humans maintain a unique advantage over AI, particularly with our ability to adapt, learn and evolve (Photo: Getty Images)

Unlearning is hard enough for people, but making AI do it is even harder. Our brain plasticity, thankfully, gives us the upper hand when it comes to unlearning.

In an increasingly VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity) world, academic and business innovation expert Navi Radjou who co-wrote the internationally acclaimed books Jugaad Innovation and From Smart To Wise, emphasised the significance of unlearning as a crucial component of personal development, both in our private and professional lives.

The necessity to unlearn to relearn is not just an intellectual exercise; it’s a vital adaptation strategy. As we continually encounter new information, technologies, and societal shifts, we must ditch outdated knowledge and methods, making space to rebuild our understanding on a stronger, more relevant foundation.

This article was adapted from our weekly newsletter, The Deep Dive. Read the full edition of How to unlearn to relearn. Subscribe to The Deep Dive here.

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Forget everything you know: How to unlearn to relearn

Open the floodgates

This is bananas