Unlearning: The overlooked skill you need to thrive in this century
Unlearning is becoming essential in the 21st century, where change happens quickly and what worked before may not work now
"The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn," writer and futurist Alvin Toffler once wrote.
While learning new skills is widely discussed, it is only one part of the puzzle. Without unlearning and relearning, true personal growth cannot happen.
So, what to unlearn? And how to unlearn?
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Unlearning means letting go of old ideas, habits, or ways of thinking that no longer work. This skill is becoming essential in the 21st century, where change happens quickly and what worked before may not work now.
Why you need to unlearn
The world is constantly evolving, and the knowledge or skills you gained in school or early in your careers may no longer be relevant today.
The economic shifts caused by the first three industrial revolutions stretched across about 250 years (1760–2010). Now, things are moving much faster. McKinsey & Company predicts that the progress we will see in the next decade will surpass what happened over the last century.
The rise of e-commerce during Covid-19 is a clear example—ten years' worth of growth happened in just three months. While the pandemic was a global crisis, it also revealed opportunities for rapid change. This pace will only increase with technologies like 5G, artificial intelligence, blockchain, and, in the future, quantum computing.
So, unlearning helps us stay up to date with these changes and remain valuable both personally and professionally. It requires questioning our existing beliefs and evaluating new information with an open, analytical mindset, which sharpens our critical thinking and improves problem-solving abilities.
By letting go of outdated ideas, we open ourselves to fresh perspectives and new approaches, fostering greater creativity and driving innovation. This process also supports meaningful personal growth by helping us shed limiting beliefs and embrace new ways of thinking, leading to a more fulfilling life.
How to unlearn?
Imagine your workplace introduces a new software platform, even though you're comfortable with the old one. Or your child's school moves to an online parent-teacher system. To keep up, you'll need to both learn and unlearn.
The first step is to make the old habit disappear. Psychologists call this "extinction"—removing the old behaviour so you can make space for the new. For example, you want to stop logging into the old system and start using the new one.
The trick is simple: replace your old habit with the new one. Like learning a language, you improve faster through immersion—living in a place where you must use it daily. It might feel uncomfortable at first, but focusing on the new action accelerates progress. Soon, the old habit fades because you're not using it anymore, a Forbes article reads.
In today's fast-changing world, unlearning is one of the most important skills. Think about the technologies we now take for granted—iPhones, GPS, Instagram, Facebook—all of which didn't exist just over a decade ago.
Instead of focusing on what you're trying to stop, focus on what you want to start. If you want to replace coffee with green tea, think about which tea you'll drink, not about coffee. The more attention you give to the new habit, the faster the old one disappears. Where you place your focus determines how quickly you can learn, relearn, and unlearn—both in life and at work.
