[Un]learning in business

This issue we delve into the importance of unlearning and learning in business.

It's no secret the world outside your organization can move at a faster clip than it’s possible to keep up with internally. New opportunities, circumstances and ideas are flowing into the headspace of your organization continuously. As leaders, we need to sort through them to decide whether to act, change or hold the course.

For any company that's been around a while these judgement calls can be challenging, and slow to unfold. 

Your organization has a history of experiences and thoughts that define how it looks at the world. That's often the dilemma of being an incumbent. 

When faced with an unfamiliar circumstance, it's human nature to search for past experiences that can help us interpret it.  Our brains trigger this shortcut - the association of an unfamiliar thing to the closest thing we are familiar with. 

It's useful when it works because it can save time, and avoid waste. Why bother with something when we already know the likely outcome is not positive? 

When faced with an unfamiliar circumstance, it's human nature to search for past experiences that can help us interpret it. 

Our brains trigger this shortcut.

The other side of the coin is something we need to equally guard against. Thinking we understand something, when we actually don't know enough to make a judgement. 

It's often why boundaries are not pushed in corporations and why many promising ideas fail to get off the ground. 

This can happen when the past associations we're making are loose and not connected precisely enough to the idea or circumstance we're trying to make sense of.  

It's called a rush to judgement. And it's very challenging for many leaders to manage given the velocity of decisions on the plate.  

The neuroscience behind this is fascinating. The brain is not great at saving empty space between the links it's making between the unfamiliar and prior experience or beliefs. Or at least not subconsciously.

In other words, it has to be a conscious effort to hold space in the mind to see if the associations are strong enough. Incorrectly fitting something new into an existing pattern of thought happens continuously in companies. 

The neuroscience behind this is fascinating. The brain is not great at saving empty space unless it's a conscious effort.

The classic case in business is an idea to which the reaction is "we've tried this before and it didn't work."  

Many of you will agree, those are some of the most dreaded words for an innovator to hear. You're automatically swimming upstream on an idea. And quite frankly, many creatives are not as effective in overcoming the obstacle of skepticism as they are coming up with promising ideas to begin with. It's a rare bird who is gifted at both. 

"We've tried this before and it didn't work" are some of the most dreaded words for an innovator to hear. 

It's much better if we train everyone around the table to guard against rush to judgement. 

Let's explore a quick and dirty method for that. Mastering this will help a company avoid legacy thinking - a topic I’ve covered in previous issues.

An excess of legacy thinking results in a legacy culture which eventually leads to decline of the company. Eventually legacy thinking and culture will manifest for customers as some outdated aspect of your product customer experience or business model. Another company or set of competitors will fit the market better, and that can be hard to reverse. Customer relevance is the reason we guard against legacy.

Since no leader wants to be an enabler for legacy culture, it’s important to master new practices to manage the risk of legacy thinking as a barrier to promising new ideas.

Customer relevance is the reason we guard against legacy.

The key is to avoid making instant associations. In other words, keep the exploration of the new idea independent from previous understanding, at least to start. When new and existing thoughts have enough texture, that's when we look to connect any relevant dots.

Let's break this down into a simple 3 step method:

1. Separation - It's okay to recall prior experience and thought in the company when considering a new opportunity. This could be a valuable body of knowledge to draw upon (providing short cuts we mention earlier) but it's critical to suspend drawing conclusions until we understand whether the linkage is strong or weak. The specific assumptions and actions behind prior experience and thought should be studied. In a retrospective style, they should be evaluated for lessons and relevance to the current circumstances. When we peel back the onion, we may find prior efforts are not relevant because times have changed, barriers are gone or that prior thought simply did not push the envelope far enough.
2. Exploration - In the spirit of providing some space for a new idea to breathe, we want to allocate mindshare to understand its contours independent of the past. I suggest a simple model of "what do need to believe for this idea to take flight, and what are the unknowns underlying it." Thought exploration directed to these underlying questions and unknowns is always a great test to see if an idea has legs.
3. Synthesis - Next comes the work of connecting the dots (or not). If prior efforts hold relevant considerations to the "what do we need to believe" exercise, they are strong connections. We apply that existing knowledge to the current circumstance. If those considerations hold a weak connection (like 1 or 2 bars of cell phone coverage), then we "unlearn" those thoughts. We don't apply that existing knowledge and need to update our understanding of the topic. This new knowledge is really critical to spread. Ideally, like the "find and replace" feature when writing a document. If only there was a way to do that for the brain of an organization. In its place, we have to place our most recent learning or understanding. 

When prior experience and current circumstance have weak connection (like 1 or 2 bars of cell phone coverage), then we "unlearn" those thoughts

The Takeaway

To summarize, we are shooting for a way to take in new inputs continuously. And to evaluate if they are relevant to integrate into our organizations understanding of a topic, replacing previous thinking, or not.  

Build methods to take in new inputs continuously, and decide if they replace previous thinking, or not.  

It's a living system of knowledge, and effective leaders role model behaviors that promote it.

Reflections from Amazon

Amazon does it well, though it a less known aspect of the management culture. For every product Amazon launches, there are 2-3 that it's decided to hold back on, shelf or keep marinating on.  Even when a new idea is not acted upon, there is still value created for the company. 

For every product Amazon launches, there are 2-3 that it's decided to hold back on, shelf or keep marinating on. 

Amazon will take exploration of a new thing it doesn't launch and apply the knowledge it has acquired along the way towards other projects. It will find ways to apply whatever it has learned to make something else better. 

I'm a huge fan of this long term approach to management. Amazon understands how to wield intellectual capital as a weapon. How many other organizations have this mindset around learning? 

Any other Business (AOB)

Let's shift gears.

During the pandemic, I've noticed an increased effort by certain leaders in my network to mentor and advise others. These efforts have inspired me and here's why. The data tells us that circles of connection and collaboration have shrunk during the pandemic.

Data tells us that circles of connection and collaboration have shrunk during the pandemic.

People are not only physically isolated, but it seems losing the avenues to develop relationships (other than ones that are already very comfortable).

Instead, he leaders I'm referring to have gone out of their way to re-connect with colleagues, extend mentorship to people earlier in career and show gratitude toward people who've believed in them along the way. The are re-kindling relationships.

I want to thank these enlightened leaders for showing us a better way. Some of them include @Delu Jackson, @Dane Matthews and @Alex Vargas

Leave a comment if you're doing some of the same or have a perspective on mentoring, coaching and re-connection in this pandemic period. And if you've enjoyed this issue, please share it :)