Growth does not happen automatically just because you show up to work every day. As Helen Tupper and Sarah Ellis emphasize in the HBR Guide to Critical Thinking, the capacity to unlearn, learn, and relearn is crucial for sustained success. This lesson will help you build intentional learning habits, recognize when old patterns are holding you back, and adapt your strengths as your context changes. When you apply critical thinking to your own development, you stop being a passive recipient of experience and start actively shaping your growth.

Many professionals acknowledge the need for continuous learning, yet busy schedules often make it feel like a luxury. When development is deprioritized, it limits your ability to adapt to constant change. The key is integrating learning into everyday work rather than setting aside separate time. Let's look at some methods we can apply every day.

Incorporating learning into your daily work routine can enhance adaptability and growth. By connecting with a diverse range of individuals, you can gain new insights and expand your network. Deliberate experimentation with tasks encourages continuous learning and a culture of improvement, while maintaining a "learn-it-all log" ensures that insights are captured and utilized. Meanwhile, fostering a team environment where skills are shared through methods like skills swaps encourages a collective approach to development, ensuring everyone is both a contributor and a learner.

Skills and behaviors that once led to success can sometimes become barriers to future growth. Unlearning involves letting go of the familiar to make space for new approaches. For instance, a leader might need to stop always speaking first in meetings, while a team member might benefit from embracing diverse viewpoints rather than dismissing them.

To accelerate unlearning try some of these techniques:

• Engage with Challengers: Connect with individuals who challenge your thinking to gain fresh perspectives.

• Diverse Experiences: Talk to people with different backgrounds to see problems through a new lens.

  • Example: If you work in a large organization, engage with someone who works independently. Or if you have extensive experience, learn from someone who is new to the field.

• Open Dialogue: Ask questions like "How might you tackle this challenge?" to encourage meaningful conversations without defensiveness.

Additionally, track your automatic behaviors over a week to identify habits that may be holding you back. Choose three habits to consciously unlearn and adopt new approaches. For instance, if you often organize meetings, try delegating this task. If you typically jump to solutions, practice soliciting others' perspectives first. This process enhances self-awareness and uncovers hidden patterns.

Relearning involves adapting your strengths as contexts change. Your capabilities are continually evolving. Maybe collaboration remains important to you, but you are relearning how to do it in a hybrid work environment. Maybe you have changed roles and are relearning how to transfer your talents to a new setting. Relearning is not about abandoning what makes you effective—it is about adapting those strengths so they continue to serve you.

Consider this conversation between a manager and a team member transitioning into a new role:

• Jake: How are things going in the new position?
• Nova: Honestly, I'm frustrated. Being hands-on was my strength, but now it seems counterproductive with a larger group.
• Jake: What’s making it counterproductive?
• Nova: People seem frustrated when I dive into details. I'm questioning if being hands-on is a weakness now.
• Jake: I think being hands-on is still a strength. It just needs to be applied differently. Instead of focusing on everyone daily, maybe go deeper with one person each week.

Jake helps Nova understand that her strength still holds value but needs adjustment. Relearning means recognizing how the same skill can serve new purposes when deployed differently.

To stay adaptable, stretch your strengths by applying them in varied situations, such as through external projects or volunteering. This reveals new dimensions of skills you thought you understood.

Seeking fresh-eyed feedback allows you to view your skills from a new angle, identifying blind spots and regaining control of your growth. Instead of asking general feedback questions, ask, "What would improve this?" to encourage candid responses.

Lastly, develop the resilience needed to sustain ongoing growth. Track small daily successes to build motivation and momentum, even when progress feels challenging.

In summary, adapting your learning approach by embedding continuous development into your work, unlearning limiting habits, and adjusting strengths to fit evolving contexts can enhance your growth. Next, you will get to apply these strategies in upcoming activities where you'll support colleagues in adapting their strengths to succeed in new environments.