Unlearning and new learning 8.23.21

It's August. Back to school! Time to "officially" learn! It was all so straight forward when we were told what to learn. It was on a syllabus. We knew what was coming our way and that our knowledge would be put to the test via a paper or literally a test.

In the adult world, not so much. As the world continues to change so rapidly...as the future is no longer simply a reflection of the past...we have to unlearn and relearn A LOT. This new learning (e.g. a new software tool; how to lead others for the first time and still get our daily tasks done; how to work in a decentralized, virtual team; how to adapt to a new competitor or disruption to the business model, etc.) often requires breaking old habits. Breaking old habits is HARD WORK.

During these times we can often feel incompetent, unsure of ourselves, pissed off, etc. It can feel bad to unlearn things as an adult because we've spent most of our lives trying to build up experience, competence, and confidence.

When we see these changes come at us, it can create learning anxiety. This is the primary source of resistance to change. The difficulty of learning or unlearning is staring us in the face, and we do not like it. This blog post is not about solving learning anxiety in its entirety. It's simply here to put a name to this type of resistance to change that shows up in the form of anxiety, fear, eye-rolling, fist-pounding, avoidance. Try to catch yourself in the moment and realize that no one totally likes it, but learning and unlearning is a necessary and ever-present truth.

It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change. -Charles Darwin

Source: Schein, E. & Schein P. (2021). Humble Inquiry: The gentle art of asking instead of telling , Second Edition. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler.