Unlearning is the new learning

Practicing the art of medicine requires continuous life long learning. The culture and business of medicine, however, requires that you unlearn if you are to adapt to the changing environment of consolidated, corporatized, and technologically advanced environment.

Research from LinkedIn has shown that half of today’s most in-demand skills weren’t even on the list three years ago. As a result, there is now a premium on intellectual curiosity and the desire and ability to quickly grow and adapt one’s skill set. How can you create a learning culture on?your own team or in your organization? First, reward continuous learning. Note that rewarding curiosity is not just about praising and promoting those who display an effort to learn and develop; it’s also about creating a climate that nurtures critical thinking, where challenging authority and speaking up are encouraged, even if it means creating discord. Be sure to give people meaningful and constructive feedback?— it’s hard to improve on anything if you are unaware of your limitations. As a manager, practice what you preach. And finally, hire curious people. It’s easier to augment potential than to go against someone’s nature.

Unlearning is the process of discarding something from your memory. When you unlearn something you forget it, put it aside, and you lose knowledge of?it.?

But, why exactly would you want to unlearn something? In many cases when you unlearn something you can get rid of a bad habit, preconceptions or something that is false.?Alvin Toffler, futurist and philosopher said:?

"The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn."

Have you thought about not just your why, but the why of your why?

Unlearning is the process through which we break down the origins of our thoughts, attitudes, behaviors, feelings, and biases. It's asking ourselves:

• Where do these beliefs come from?
• Do these support my mental health?
• Is this in alignment with the life I want?
• Is this congruent with my authenticity and the person I am? The person I want to become.
• Do I believe this to be true to myself?

Here are some tips for unlearning in the workplace.

Here are some others:

1. Support friction fixers

2. Unveil the hidden curriculum

3. Hire good rebels

4. Lead innovators, don't manage innovation systems

5. Reward curiosity and failure

6. Encourage people to take shots on goal

7. Descale bad cultures

8. Make it hard to do stupid stuff

9. Eliminate silos

10. Redo your business model before someone else does

11. Reduce your implicit biases

12. Develop your entrepreneurial mindset

Here is why you should hire intrapreneurs and what to do with them once you have done it.

You should also cultivate medical entrepreneurial attendings.

Bottom line: Fuggetaboutit and relearn. Wash, rinse, repeat.

Arlen Meyers, MD, MBA is the President and CEO of the Society of Physician Entrepreneurs on Substack