4 minute read
GET READY TO UNLEARN
Let us start with a simple question - What is unlearning? Simply put, unlearning is the process of discarding something from your memory. When you are able to successfully unlearn, you will forget it and lose knowledge of it. It is relatively simple for us to learn and relearn a subject of our choice but most of us don’t exactly know what unlearning means, and for those who do, unlearning something seems to be really challenging and almost impossible to complete.
In a fast-changing environment caused by the economic hardship of a pandemic, business owners need to learn and adapt with greater speed than normally required. When the rules keep changing on an almost day to day basis, one’s ability in letting go of old rules and learning new ones becomes critically important.
Advertisement
I can already hear your next question – Why do we need to unlearn something? I would like to share a quote by Alwin Toffler, futurist and philosopher “ The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.”
Business owners and their employees need to unlearn their old ways in order to move forward quickly and increase
their work efficiency. In most cases unlearning helps with getting rid of an unproductive habit or preconceptions about something. The good news is that we all have the skills and knowledge to unlearn and to help guide you better, here are 3 unlearning tips:
CHANGING LOCATIONS. One of the most easy ways to unlearn is to change the location where you previously learned something. A new surrounding will force you to look at new things and you are in a way forcing yourself to unlearn the old way of doing something by adapting to you new surroundings and learning a new way of doing something. This will also help you break old habits, some of which were not very productive. A perfect example is the new work from home culture as one can no longer go to an office. This is forcing people to unlearn all their old office habits and learn new ones while adapting to a home office.
DEVELOPING AN ATTITUDE OF OPENNESS AND WILLINGNESS.
The longer you have worked in a particular environment, the harder it will be for you to unlearn the old ways of doing things and switching to a new reality. The only way you can effectively unlearn is to develop an attitude of openness and willingness to learn. As a business owner, you should avoid demanding compliance and instead promote an atmosphere of willingness to unlearn the old ways and learn new ways of doing things and one of the best ways to do that is to lead by example. Your employees will be more co-operative if you make them willing participants and show them the right way by setting your own example.
SET REALISTIC GOALS AND
CELEBRATE SUCCESS. One of the best ways to get your entire team to co-operate in the unlearning process is to give them specific realistic small goals which they can achieve in a small amount of time. This clear process will give the learner a sense of ownership of their goals as well as a sense of achievement when they are able to complete those goals quickly. The more goals they complete in a shorter duration of time, the more motivated and self-reliant they will become. An example would be to get them to switch off their computer once a day when they may be attending a long meeting or taking a lunch break. This simple task if achieved by everyone can reduce your monthly electricity bills by about 10% each month.
Small business owners and entrepreneurs are faced with critical challenges and the only way out for them is quickly unlearn some of the old and unproductive ways of doing business and adapt to this new reality by learning new ways to conduct their business. The most overlooked aspect of learning is the process of first unlearning as businesses have developed habits of doing things a certain way and the only way they can change and adapt to new ways is to first forget the old ways of doing things. As change is continuous, businesses need to stay current and avoid becoming obsolete by adapting a continuous process of learning, unlearning and relearning their processes and the way they deal with customers. In the meantime, please wash your hands frequently, avoid touching your face, maintain a physical distance of two meters (approx. 6 feet) with everyone other than the people you live with and be kind, be calm and be safe.
Rajula is an entrepreneur, international business coach and newspaper columnist with the OHerald in Goa, India. He has an extensive background in business development and marketing and in his spare time like to cook and travel.