Average Ideas Are Dangerous
The danger of average ideas is they work.
“The chief object of education is not to learn things but to unlearn things.” G.K. Chesterton
Unlearning is like breaking concrete with a Jello hammer.
Average ideas are safe.
We desire change but grip the present. Old dogs don’t learn when they can’t unlearn.
The Challenge
The challenge of unlearning is letting go in three areas.
- Ways of thinking about ourselves.
- Ways of thinking about others.
- Ways of thinking about the way things get done.
Old Dogs
- Defend rather than engage.
- Blame instead of own.
- Find fault rather than seek solutions.
- Trust in authority rather than relationship.
- Believe accountability concerns power to punish rather than shared responsibilities.
Confronting Average Ideas
Unlearning is listening to discomforting ideas.
- Unlearning is stopping.
- Unlearning is letting go.
- Unlearning is moving away from.
- Unlearning takes humility.
You’re getting things done with current methods. The challenge of unlearning is trying on untested behaviors.
Topics for unlearning and relearning:
- Focus on problem-solving rather than building a preferred future. It takes more courage to create something new than to fix something old.
- Tell less. Ask more. Curiosity is today’s untapped leadership skill.
- Ignite, monitor, and manage energy.
- The potential of introverts.
- Narrowing responsibility to the controllable.
- Discussing expectations rather than demanding.
- Turning toward awkward conversations.
Unlearning is the path to growth.
Where might leaders need to engage in unlearning?
What have you unlearned and relearned?
Adapted from: Why Old Dogs Don’t Learn New Tricks
This post is brilliant, I could spend a large part of the test of my contemplating it. Thank you
Thanks, Peter. It’s a pleasure to be useful.
“Curiosity is today’s untapped leadership skill” I love it!!!
Noticing if people are curious during job interviews would be helpful. We worry about the questions we ask. What about the questions the candidate asks?
I really like this. Working in education we often talk about how learning is uncomfortable. That can work well for messaging with students. As employees, the concept of “unlearning” is critical. As someone who’s been with my organization for, um, a long time (half my life now? how is this possible?? But I digress…), I need to “unlearn” so as not to hold back great ideas from my historical lens.
You make me think about how easy it is to expect others to do something. Doing it myself is another story.
Good evening Dan, I appreciate this post. I often remind team members that we are not here to be average, we are here to be awesome. Being in emergency services, and I am sure this is the same regardless of the industry, nobody woke up this morning saying “I’m going to be the OK-est on the team today”. Never have we developed anything new , provided excellent customer service, or pushed the boundaries of creativity in any respect by being average. Average is safe and that’s why it’s dangerous. We need to guard against it and be wary of it. We have to be self-reflective enough to notice if we relapse ourselves and be open minded enough to coach and mentor others so that they avoid the attractive pitfalls of average. Thank you for the provoking thoughts today. Stay safe and stay warm.
Provocative comment, David. “Never have we developed anything new , provided excellent customer service, or pushed the boundaries of creativity in any respect by being average.” — powerful.
Excellence requires intentional deviation from average.