“The curious thing is that with these exponential changes, so much of what we currently know is just getting to be wrong. So many of our assumptions are getting to be wrong. As so, as we move forward, not only is it going to be a question of learning it is also going to be a question of unlearning.” –John Seely Brown
Question: In a pond, there is a patch of lily pads. Every day the patch doubles in size. If it takes 30 days for the patch to cover the entire pond, how long would it take for the patch to cover the entire pond?
The answer is 29 days because the size of the patch doubles every day.
In his best-selling book, Only the Paranoid Survive, Andy Grove, then CEO of Intel, recounted the story of his discussion with Gordon Moore regarding the future of the company in the wake of its profits dwindling from $198 million to less than $2 million in the mid-1980’s. “I looked out the window at the Ferris wheel of the Great American amusement park revolving in the distance when I turned back to Gordon, and asked ‘If we got kicked out and the board brought in a new CEO, what do you think he would do?’ Gordon answered without hesitation, “He would get us out of memories.’ I stared at him, numb, and then said ‘Why shouldn’t you and I walk out the door, come back, and do it ourselves?”
Grove did exactly that and abandoned the memory market and jumped into the microprocessor market. A few years later he made the then controversial decision to begin branding Intel’s technology with the “Intel Inside” slogan.
During Grove’s tenure, the company grew at an impressive annual compound rate of 30%. Undoubtedly, Grove was an intelligent, capable and visionary leader but what really lay behind his extraordinary leadership? It was his ability and willingness to unlearn.
Before Intel could become a microprocessor company it had to unlearn that it was a memory manufacturer, and before it could adopt an innovative marketing campaign, it had to unlearn the idea that a technology company could only appeal to consumers based on raw computer processing power. In a culture dominated by engineers this was no easy sell.
Unlearning is hard work. In fact, often it requires a brutal act of will. Intel only recovered from Grove’s decision after it laid off 8,000 employees and suffered through a one-year loss of $180 million. Throughout his reign, Grove kept Intel successful by constantly keeping an open mind.
The key to his success was his willingness to set aside everything he knew – or thought he knew. It might be easy to think that the semiconductor industry is somehow unique and is more responsive to change because the industry’s underlying technology–the transistor—is constantly changing (the number of transistors that can be placed on a chip doubles roughly every 18 months). And, perhaps, this is true. It is, however, no reason for complacency.
We now live in an era of accelerating change and every industry must embrace the concept of unlearning or risk perishing. Wikipedia, the open-source movement, virtual and augmented reality, electronic books, and free online courses are whip-sawing educational institutions; and yet, amazingly, many teachers and administrators are reluctant to embrace new paradigms and new ways of doing business. Why? Because they can’t unlearn the old ways of doing things. This is true even when confronted with overwhelming proof that the system and its current models aren’t working.
The healthcare industry is about to be bombarded with a wealth of new genomics data that will fundamentally alter both patients and doctors understanding of a plethora of diseases. Before the industry can take advantage of these new findings and treatments, medical professionals will first need to unlearn much of what they think they know about how diseases are caused, and how those ailments are best treated.
Mobile communication; radio frequency identification (RFID) technology; vast networks of “smart” sensors; and flexible electronics are poised to revolutionize everything from advertising and marketing to how consumers shop for goods. Unless these industries can unlearn some of their current behaviors they will be at a severe competitive disadvantage to those who are aren’t wedded to old ways of doing business.
Advances in rapid prototype manufacturing, robotics and material science threaten to disrupt the manufacturing industry, and breakthroughs in solar power, fuel cell technology, demand management tools as well as more far-fetched energy technologies such as wave power, synthetic biology and, perhaps, even nuclear fusion could also force energy providers to unlearn what they currently believe to be the most economical, cleanest, and convenient energy sources.
Add to this amazing array of technological progress as yet unknown advances; combine them with the accelerating power of the Internet; mobile and social communication tools, advanced algorithms and artificial intelligence; and then sprinkle on top of that voice and speech technology which will help information flow more easily to hundreds of millions of aspiring entrepreneurs all across the globe and it is easy to understand how many forecasters are predicting a wave of innovation unlike anything ever seen in the history of humankind.
Like a surfing novice paddling to catch her first wave, the prospect is both thrilling and terrifying. If you approach the wave with an open mind – one that is ready to unlearn and jettison old skills that are no longer suitable for the new environment – your prospects for a successful adventure improve markedly. If you are rigid and cling to your old ways, the wave will either pass you by and leave far from shore or, worse, slam your stiff and inflexible body (and thinking) onto the shoals of future progress.
Returning to Andy Grove now for a moment, if you looked out the window of your office and saw a large wave approaching and it was doubling in size every few moments what would you do?
Homework Assignment: Rank the previously mentioned technologies—computer processing power, wireless technology, RFID, rapid prototype manufacturing, social networking, robotics, genomics, biotechnology and nanotechnology—in terms of their ability to necessitate unlearning within your organization.
