From Outdated to Outstanding: 3 Ways to Master Unlearning & Relearning

Knowing Self-Aware Leadership

Quick Reminder: Join me on 21st November for The Self-Awareness Superhighway: Charting Your Leadership Journey webinar from 4pm - 5pm London time (GMT). Join me to discover, explore and grow! Because you’re a newsletter subscriber, you can access the event for free via this Zoom Link. For everyone else, booking can be made via eventbrite and payment is by donation.

Hello KSKOers

I’m really lucky that from time to time, I get to collaborate with amazing thinkers from around the globe! This time, I’m joined by

Juan Gonzalez

. I caught up with Juan to discover more about learning, unlearning, experiential learning, self-awareness and the future of the world of work. The ninth direction of my Self-Aware Leadership Compass is experience (i.e. experiential learning) so it seemed like an excellent learning opportunity to catch up with Juan! Check out our interview below.

Looking forward to having you on our learning journey!

Who’s Who?

Juan is the main writer of the Supercharged Learning newsletter and creator of the upcoming TAPA project, aimed at making AI models accessible to the public. With a computer science degree and experience in web development, technical mentoring, and online education, he leverages his diverse skills to share insights across fields. He's committed to transforming how professionals up-skill and re-skill through technology and effective education.

🟡 Nia: What motivated you to create resources for unlearning and relearning?  And what is unlearning anyway?

🔵 Juan: It's all part of the process that I've been on for the past decade. I realised that effective learning starts with a solid foundation instead of putting new material on a shaky ground. We can think about unlearning as a process where we remove the conditioning & outdated mindsets we got from school or our upbringing. Only when we remove those, we'll have room for empowering beliefs and a growth mindset.

🟡 Nia: The 9th direction of my self-awareness compass is experiential learning, which is both about developing opportunities for yourself to gain experiences and also sharing that learning with others.  What are your thoughts and experiences of experiential learning?

🔵 Juan: This is a topic I could talk about for hours. Most of the learning comes when the theory is applied in the real world. Absorbing knowledge "feels" like progress because we're "less ignorant" than before. But without using it, it becomes a busy space both in our brains and our pc's hard disk. I've been guilty of "too much info, little practice" many times. And what I've shared with close friends and mentees is that it's more beneficial to err on the side of “too much practice” instead of “too much theory”. Also, there's a recent post I wrote on the proportion between these two.

🟡 Nia: Share an example with us of when either you or someone you’ve worked with has unlearned and relearned a particular skill, which has turned out to be a game changer.

🔵 Juan: There's a particular case a few years ago when, as part of a tech mentoring program, I had a group of high-school students whom I did weekly calls with. One of the boys showed great potential but did not stand out.

After talking to him for a while, I discovered that he had the mentality that he had to get it right the first time or else he would be a failure. Over the next few sessions I showed him that the opposite of what he thought was normal and that taking the results of an event as feedback without expectations would be more beneficial.

He went to become the teacher's assistant the following year and then was accepted as an intern at the company where I started working as a developer.

🟡 Nia: Where does self-awareness fit in the journey of unlearning and relearning?

🔵 Juan: Self-awareness is a 'key part' in that journey and I don't use that term often. I would even say that without self-awareness unlearning & relearning becomes impossible.

To start the journey, one needs to take stock of the beliefs and mindsets that are present and reevaluate them against reality. In the process, our emotions will cloud our judgement. Having good self-awareness helps us know what's real and what's our natural instincts or our brain playing us tricks. 

It also helps us see our blind spots, seek out external help, track our progress, and develop a growth mindset. 

🟡 Nia: What strategies can people use to stay focused and avoid distractions while learning? What tools or apps can people use to improve their learning process?

🔵 Juan: Learning in a "supercharged" way requires good amounts of focus and organization. I created an email course called "Distraction Destroyer & Focus Refiner" to help with it.

But in a nutshell:

• Prioritising with the 80/20 principle & the Eisenhower matrix. 

• Cleaning up and setting the environment for focus sessions.

• Having clear goals set beforehand. 

• Planning the sessions during the day and throughout the week. 

• Time-boxing the work and using pomodoro timers (working in e.g. 25min blocks with a break). (I've used one called "marinara timer" several times and it helps adjust the timer to use the "flowtime" technique). 

• Leverage Parkinson's law (work expands to fill the time available) and avoid "bike-shedding" (focussing on the trivial as a way of dodging the things you know you should really be doing). 

And then reflect on previous sessions and reassess accordingly. 

"Freedom" is a popular app for blocking web and mobile apps during focus sessions. Also, note-taking apps that integrate to-do lists and a calendar are great help to make consistent progress.

🟡 Nia: How can people go about creating experiential learning opportunities?

🔵 Juan: With enough self-awareness, people can become their own teachers. But even without it, one of the simplest ways to get started is to do what I call "goal-based learning". Learning enough to achieve a specific goal. 

For example, if I want to learn marketing to promote a product, I don't go out to learn digital marketing in general. I learn the basics, what channels are the most effective, how to write emails and social media posts, and so on. If I accomplish the goal and it turns out I enjoyed the process, I can expand the knowledge further by setting a new goal. And then, work towards it ignoring the rest of the information out there. 

Adding to that reflective journaling and learning in community (with others) helps create an environment for effective experiential learning.

🟡 Nia: What’s the most impactful book or article you’ve read recently?

🔵 Juan: Somewhat recently, I read an article from David Epstein about "Kind" and "Wicked" learning environments. In it, he talks about the work of Robin Hogarth resolving an apparent contradiction in the field of expertise research. It turns out there are two camps of scientists. Those who say that people improve with experience and others who say that they not only do not improve but sometimes get even worse. Both have enough research to prove they're right. 

The crux of the matter is that this happens depending on the environment the person is performing in, either a "kind" or a "wicked" one.

🟡 Nia: The world of work is changing fast and we’re going to have to get to grips with AI and how we can capitalise on it in a human centric way.  What are your three top tips to help us adapt and learn for the future world of work?

🔵 Juan: Great question. The world keeps on changing with no signs of slowing down anytime soon. And to summarise what I’ve been (and will keep) telling people in 3 tips…

• Relearn human skills. Weird to say this but most of us have forgotten skills like face-to-face communication, interpersonal relationships, and emotional regulation. The newer generations haven’t learned them in the first place. And in a world where AI will permeate every area, our differentiator or “competitive edge”, can become that “human touch” that’ll be difficult to find. Last year, I wrote a piece about this situation of letting too much technology rot our basic human skills.

• Learn to collaborate, not compete. Here I could say “work with AI, not against it”. But the reality is that even before AI we’ve had that “threat” mentality against others. “Person X started a similar business to me, probably wants to make me quit. We’ll see who’s the last one standing.” Viewing others as a threat to us and our work makes us focus on the wrong things Like the 2 best friends that end up fighting for a woman (that ends up choosing neither of them). It’s part of the “shrinking pie” mentality that makes us toxic and selfish people. Which leads me to…

• Cultivate a growth mindset. For the reality that’s already here and the one that awaits us, adaptability will be one of the main pillars. And that’s terribly difficult with a fixed mindset. We will need to constantly unlearn & relearn, adapt & evolve, face new challenges, develop greater curiosity & intellectual flexibility, collaborate with others, think of wildly different approaches for problem solving, and build networks with peers & mentors across the globe. I believe we’ll face much greater challenges but on the other side of the coin is that we’ll have more powerful tools & technology at our disposal. The key is how we choose to use them.

3 Ways to Unlearn and Relearn

I really enjoyed my interview with Juan. Here are three practical ways that you can draw from Juan’s experience and wisdom and unlearn to relearn…

1. Challenge Outdated Mindsets: Actively identify and question any outdated beliefs or conditioning you’ve picked up from past experiences or traditional education. By confronting these preconceptions, you create space for new, more empowering ideas and a growth mindset.

2. Embrace Experiential Learning: Focus on applying theory in real-world scenarios rather than just absorbing information. Prioritising hands-on practice over excessive theorising helps reinforce learning and transforms knowledge into actionable skills. Really lean in to direction 9 of the Self-Aware Leadership Compass!

3. Reflect and Seek Feedback: Regularly reflect on your learning experiences and seek feedback from others about what you can do more of, less of and differently next time. This process helps you uncover your blind spots and lets you adjust your approach and continually refine your knowledge and skills.

The Last Word

Juan highlights just how crucial it is to keep learning, unlearning and staying self-aware as the world changes around you. By being immersed in experiential learning and rolling with the changes in the workplace, you can unlock your full potential and be in a better position to handle future work challenges. Stay curious, embrace growth and put your new knowledge into action to retain your energy, passion and engagement for your work.

Events

Join me for The Self-Awareness Superhighway: Charting Your Leadership Journey webinar to discover, explore and grow! Because you’re a newsletter subscriber, you can access the event for free! For everyone else, booking can be made via eventbrite and payment is by donation.

• 21st November from 4pm - 5pm London time (GMT) via this Zoom link

• 15th January from 1pm - 2pm London time (GMT) via this Zoom link

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Nia is an expert leader who talks the talk and walks the walk.  She is an academically awarded thought leader in self-aware leadership and practices self-aware leadership every single day in her role as a Director in a Children’s Charity.

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