What Did You Unlearn Today?
March 2, 2010 by davissm · 16 Comments
This past weekend, I met with two of my closest friends to review and discuss the direction and mission of FacilitatorU. After much discussion, a breakthrough occurred. We realized a clear theme that had not been articulated before. This theme aligns and contains my most persistent interests, practice, and teachings. It’s also edgy and counterintuitive, which I love.
I hesitate to share this theme, way of life, insight (I’m not sure what to call it) because essentially, it boils down to just one simple word. And upon first glance, it could easily be dismissed due to its simplicity. Ok enough said, here it is. This is what I’m all about…my purpose in life is to facilitate Unlearning. Crazy isn’t it? Are you impressed? I assume and suppose you’d like to know more. If so, click here to read on.
Hi Steve!
I think you are on to something magnificent here at two levels: one is the intrapersonal level of identifying our conditionings so that we can perhaps, unlearn them. Some of this is the purview of counseling, but some of it can be dealt with from the aspect of learning facilitation. One thing I have unlearned recently: that I do not have to be a teacher who is imbued with vast amounts of knowledge and the skill to articulate it to be credible. I am unlearning the need to feel as if I know it all, and the related need to control others’ responses. It is freeing space to be a much better learning facilitator, and a much more engaged human being.
The second level at which I think this notion can be essential is communally. Because we now have access to VAST amounts of knowledge, the phrase “I don’t know” has become a sign of more than just a lack of knowledge. It represents a lack of “connectivity” to the vast information sources. There is enormous cultural pressure to learn more and more (and to get the paper credentials to prove it), and to be connected to all these information sources. One result: sound bite factoids, strings of initials behind our names, and little thinking, presence, integration and therefore growth.
So pursue this. I love the notion of workshops that would help us see what we might need to unlearn (like knowledge is power and power is the ability to control)…so that we can be better facilitators for growth in others. I am befriending “I don’t know” and it is very freeing.
Debbie
Nice piece Steve. Someone who writes extensively on unlearning is Adriano Pianesi. See his recent article in Pegasus at http://participactioninc.com/downloads/unlearning.pdf.
Regards,
Larry
Thank you Larry! I’ll have a look at this.
Unlearning is a brilliant way to frame the process of getting outside of our limitations, our past experiences and beliefs and opening to potential.
The field of coaching has given all of us a wonderful gift – the importance of asking questions to uncover, discover, release the innate wisdom and knowledge of an individual as well as a gentle and elegant way to guide people to possibilities and potential.
My best facilitation happens when I ask elegant questions and let go of assumptions, predispositions and expectations.
I’m all in for the Institute for Higher Unlearning – it sounds like great fun!!
You asked what I thought of this issue on ‘unlearning’ and I thought highly enough of it to reply – Krishnamurti is the person I learned to ‘unlearn’ from – and it remains one of the most valuable things I have ever learned, it left me knowing that I know nothing. Now I am not so certain even of that.
Idries Shah said: “there are those who know nothing, and think that they know something. There are those who know nothing, and don’t know that they know nothing. There are those who know nothing and know that they know nothing. There are those who know something and don’t know that they know. And there are those who know and know that they know.” (Learning How to Learn – Shah)
If one takes away everything that one has learned – what is left?
Steve:
I, too, have decided to focus on the concept of unlearning. I invite you and your readers to visit my website at http://www.unlearning101.com — you’ll find a lot of food for thought. I’ve been writing on the topic for nearly two years and will soon have two new books out on the topic.
Jack Uldrich
Excellent Jack! I thought I was first onboard with this one but it appears not. There’s a lot of unlearning to do out there so the more to assist the better I suppose. Will have a look at your site.
Cool concept Steve. I would say in order to be present as a
facilitator you have to be unlearned or else you’re imposing your
agenda.
Would I want an ‘unlearning’ higher institute? I’ll have to reflect on
that. It requires a paradigm shift in how we view institutes. Perhaps
it is more of a cafe style approach to bringing people together
(virtually or in person) to co-create an event that supports one’s
ability to ‘let go’ and be.
Now I’m sounding flakey. But I enjoy your approach and look forward to
how it unfolds.
Here’s a quote that seems to touch on the unlearning aspect of learning.
“You can learn new things at any time in your life if you’re willing
to be a beginner. If you actually learn to like being a beginner, the
whole world opens up to you.”
- Barbara Sher
I totally agree and already work with my clients on “unlearning”. It follows the Zen proverb of – “knowledge is learning something new every day; wisdom is letting something go every day”.
Indeed, unlearning individually and organizationally is key to moving forward in productive and innovative ways. Unfortunately, engrained tradition is hard to unchain from everyday behavior, especially in companies that have (and still are) successful with the same ol’, same ol’. Why change? All I can say is, if we don’t unlearn some things and open ourselves up to new learning then we risk being bowled over by competition, innovation from others, technological change, etc. Adapt or die more or less.
Trying to unstick one’s self or one’s employer to facilitate unlearning can be incredible difficult, especially without a clear vision of desired results, support for change, and a clear and vivid vision of how good the picture will be after the change. Most large, top-down bureaucracies need a sense of urgency before things really change (e.g. Ford).
Sure, “unlearning” makes sense and has been used for a long time even if it has been informally. As individuals, cultures and companies age, they change and our skill set needs to adapt to the new and current needs and not be stuck in past patterns. Thus, unlearning will need to take place so the proper response is in play and not an old skill/knowledge set that is no longer appropriate.
It would be very interesting to see a formal application of the ‘unlearning’ process built into a training program on a large scale to evaluate and observe how it works.
Great stuff everyone! This is a fantastic topic and fits in well with transformational learning and change management processes.
Dean
Unlearning from a neuroscience point of view…
Broadly speaking there are two parts of the brain: working memory and hardwiring/long-term memory: the conscious mind versus the unconscious mind.
Working memory doesn’t really hold very much; in fact only about 7 items at any one time. Hardwiring/long-term memory holds everything we actually know which basically means anything that you don’t need to think about anymore.
Our brains are designed to push things down into our hardwiring/long-term memory to keep our working memory fresh.
Think about the learning journey – taking on new learning is tiring and hard work and causes stress. Creating new wiring takes up a lot of effort and resources – literally. Once we have learned something however (hard wiring) we don’t have to actively think about it anymore and it becomes easy.
The information stored in hardwiring/long-term memory becomes the basis for how we view the world and create new learning. We perceive the world around us based on our own unique experiences and what bits of information we have stored in our brains from these past experiences. Thus our reality is our interpretation of the world based on the way our brains are wired.
It’s practically impossible to deconstruct our wiring
It doesn’t take long to hardwire things – anything we think about several times over makes many connections in the brain thus getting hard wired.
It’s an attention economy in the brain. Anything we give focus to can become hardwired (remember the brain works hard to get things out of short term memory and into long term memory – it uses less resources this way!).
The more we focus on a given connection, the more we deepen that connection. In fact what happens when we try to get rid of some wiring is that we actually think about it even more thereby making it even stronger.
It’s almost impossible to get rid of old wiring just by thinking about it! For example, if you are told not to think about smoking, you immediately think about smoking. The more you try not to think about smoking the more our brains will tend to focus on smoking. This increased focus tends to deepen the wiring even further rather than erase it.
Numerous studies have shown that the ability to effectively handle change is a key predictor for success. However, the fact is, our brains are hard-wired to resist change. When we encounter something new, a whole set of automatic responses take over the brain and the body, often interfering with our ability to respond optimally. Break-through research shows that we can “re-wire” our brains to make changes, throughout the human life span and at any age. You can“out-smart” your brain when it comes to handling change..
It’s easy to create new wiring
Luckily however it’s almost effortless to create new wiring – it’s what our brains are designed to do. We are able to reconcile impasses by creating new maps. This is what happens in the moment you have an insight.
As long as we are given the opportunity and encouragement to reflect, we create hard wiring.
Bringing in a new wiring doesn’t get rid of the old wiring. It’s still there – it’s just not being used so much. The phrase ‘use it or lose it’ is very relevant here. By using the old wiring less it becomes weaker and less able to guide our perceptions/thinking, whereas the new wiring becomes stronger and takes priority over the old wiring.
Until very recently, it was widely believed that the human brain is hard-wired in childhood and determined largely by genetics. Not so. Current scientific research demonstrates that the brain is capable of growth throughout our lifetime and that while neural connections can disintegrate through lack of use, new connections can also be created. This ability to re-wire the brain is known as neuroplasticity.
Think of our person wanting to stop smoking – thinking about why you smoke just increases the hard wiring for smoking; thinking about what else you could do at the moment of wanting to smoke creates new wiring. We create millions of maps every second – with so much going on inside each person’s brain, it behoves us to make it easier for each other and keep things simple. We love making connections – we often feel energised when we make connections. It feels good to make connections and have everything fit into our mental maps.
No longer must we believe that our behavior is pre-determined. If such behavior is changeable, then we can change it. It is a liberating idea.Understanding your hard-wiring and how to work with it to fully realize your potential
WOW! You just validated why I am so smart. It’s because I am not, so I am. Weird. So here’s the thing. Your post really resonated with me. I unlearned alot form it. I especially like the action to speak before you think. That has been working for me for years but I never knew it until you just pointed it out. And the asking questions part. Very good stuff and now that I am conscious of it, it’s already worked miracles for me today. Thank you Steve….
PS. I am your long lost coaching pupil Ricky Brandon. Long time no see but I love reading your newsletters. This one just really stuck with me. Thanks.
very interesting – I just ordered the Kindergarten book which I had never heard of before.
I think unlearning is also important when it comes to ideas about ourselves or others or about how the world works that are created by erroneous beliefs which were inspired by powerful (probably mostly negative) experiences or through interacting with certain individuals whose opinions we respected for whatever reason.
But of course you have to become aware of what it is you need to unlearn first…
Karin
I like it! Sounds like playing! Akin to “you must become like
children” — count me in! I’ve been at this for years, unlearning theology, unlearning the meaning of life, unlearning parenting styles, unlearning concepts like convenience, modesty, “don’t talk, don’t feel” rules, bartering for love, how to relate to men, etc. Twelve step programs are ALL about unlearning: ‘you help by not helping,’ ‘recover power by admitting powerlessness,’ etc. I could go on and on.