The secret to growth might not be what you add, but what you unlearn.
We spend so much time chasing new skills, new systems, new strategies. Yet sometimes progress doesn’t come from adding more. It comes from clearing the clutter — the habits, assumptions, and “best practices” that once worked but no longer serve us.
In a world where everything changes faster than your software updates, the real skill is knowing what to release.
Why unlearning matters more than ever
Hybrid work has rewritten the rulebook. The routines that held teams together in the office can feel clunky or irrelevant online. The systems that made sense last year might be slowing you down today.
Still, most organisations respond by adding more. More tools. More training. More processes. But more doesn’t always mean better. Sometimes it just means heavier.
Unlearning is about making space. It’s the process of saying, this used to serve us, but it doesn’t anymore. It’s choosing agility over attachment.
And the payoff? Focus, speed, and a team that can actually adapt rather than just react.
What unlearning looks like in practice
Start with assumptions.
Every company has invisible rules: how meetings run, who speaks, what “good” looks like. Ask which of those still drive value and which just take up space.
Revisit your metrics.
If success is measured by volume, you’ll keep adding. Try measuring impact instead. It changes the decisions people make overnight.
Create space for reflection.
Unlearning needs time. Build in moments to pause and ask, “What should we stop doing?” The best teams learn by subtraction as much as by addition.
Model it from the top.
When leaders say, “We were wrong,” or “That no longer fits,” they give everyone else permission to adapt. That kind of honesty creates momentum.
The courage to let go
Unlearning sounds simple but it takes bravery. It means admitting that what got you here might not get you there. It means trading certainty for possibility.
But that’s also where growth begins.
Letting go isn’t losing. It’s making room for what’s next.
So before you add another program, tool, or initiative this year, ask what might happen if you removed one instead. You might be surprised how light progress can feel when you stop carrying what no longer serves you.
