Unlearning is the key to growth

In the life of an organisation, an inflexion point arrives from time to time. In terms of technology and strategy, most organisations rise to the challenging situation and adapt to it. However, many of these organisations may be oblivious to the absence of attitudinal change.

Organisational change is like plastic surgery. An act of removal precedes the reconstructive process. In the life of an organisation, unlearning precedes change. There are however factors that hinder unlearning and stifle the channels of change.

Enslavement to the known

Organisations can baulk at root-and-branch change, even when it is absolutely necessary. For, clipping the branches and keeping the structure intact spares them the disturbing challenge of learning afresh.

Ilangathir Venugopal, a member of Toastmaster International from Tamil Nadu, says leaving an unproductive course often involves accepting an error in approach. Changing course many entail high costs, but continuing down an unhelpful course will in the long run lead to greater and often irreparable damages.

While serving as co-chair of Reverberations 2014, a conference for Toastmasters from Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka, this realisation came home to Ilangathir. “Sponsorships were not coming by because we were knocking on the wrong doors. However we had this realisation late in the day. To give you an idea, we approached a jewellery shop for sponsorship and were turned down. We realised the organisations — some of them really big — were turning us down because they would not derive any mileage from putting up stalls at the venue of the conference. Now, we had to radically change our approach. We decided to approach organisations that thrived on communication and leadership skills, which our organisation promotes. Not only that, we would tell these organisations upfront what we had to offer them — conducting ‘Speechcraft’ (an interpersonal communication and youth leadership programme by Toastmaster International) for their young employees. Sponsorships poured in. The willingness to unlearn a more familiar approach and free our mind to receive something that alone would work for us in the current situation, had helped us.”

Deep-rooted complacency

In the life of an organisation, an inflexion point arrives from time to time. In terms of technology and strategy, most organisations rise to this challenging situation and adapt to it. However, many of these organisations may be oblivious to the absence of attitudinal change. Teams may be unwilling to unlearn old attitudes, which can make them unequal to the new challenge. Hardly pushed before, the employees may be in denial. They may be carrying over the same attitude to the new situation, to the detriment of the organisation and their personal growth.

Tyranny of rules

Every organisation lays down neatly-chiselled rules for its functioning. But supervisors can slip into the habit of following these rules to the letter, ignoring the spirit behind them. When rigid, rules that enable teams to function smoothly and optimally can become a noose around them, sometimes stifling creativity, initiative and situational leadership. When they rigidly apply the rule book as a one-size solution for all situations, supervisors cease to learn and lose the ability to empathise with individuals in their teams.

Retention of talent is a steep challenge in an organisation that does not promote a culture of unlearning obsolete rules.

Senior supervisors, enslaved to the rulebook, may find it difficult to understand Gen Y employees, which could lead to a high attrition rate.