The cycle of learning, unlearning, and relearning

Learn. Unlearn. Relearn

I first learnt this phrase 11 years ago, on day one of my first job. It was during onboarding at the Tech Mahindra campus in Chennai. About 40-50 new grads in an auditorium. One of the sessions was led by the head of L&D. He said something around the lines of

“Keep learning. If you want to thrive in this world, you’ll have to learn, unlearn, and relearn.”

And then I think he went on to explain that for a couple of minutes. I don't know why, but that stuck with me ever since.

But why am I thinking of it now? A couple of days ago, I caught up with an ex-colleague. She's a marketer looking to transition into product marketing. Among other things, she asked me “How will AI change product marketing? Will there be enough scope for product marketers in the years to come?”

I gave her a vague answer saying as long as you’re proficient enough with AI to use it in your day-to-day work, and constantly improve your craft, you'll be fine and will always be employable.

I don’t know if that answered her question. But it made me think.

No one really knows (at least I don't) what our roles will look like five or ten years from now. Things are changing too fast with all of the technological and other advancements. The way I want to approach this is simple - be adaptable and accepting of the changing world.

Follow the learn, unlearn, and relearn mantra.

Learning is a shiny topic, often talked about. But unlearning and relearning aren't spoken about as much, even though most of us are probably doing it without realizing it.

So here's how I'd describe unlearning and relearning.

Unlearning outdated beliefs

Unlearn when something that was a tried and tested process or approach no longer works or has fundamentally changed. That's when you unlearn the old way and learn the new way. An example from my work is unlearning to spend hours writing the first draft. Learn to quickly put your raw/draft thoughts. And then use AI to improve it or get a first pass and then quickly iterate.

Relearning with new skills and tools

Relearning is relatively easier. You already have a good foundation, now you just have to learn additional skills or knowledge to be able to do the job better. For example, you already know a programming language. You know the fundamentals of programming and the logic, which will not change. When you have to learn a new language, it is all about the syntax and the best practices more than the fundamentals itself.

Over time, I think this loop will help us rethink what we know.

Jobs don’t change. How you approach them does. That’s the way to keep ourselves up-to-date and employable in the market.

I’m in product marketing for over 5 years now and have enjoyed it almost every day. I think I’m just at the tip of the iceberg and there’s a lot more to learn and explore in this field. That said, with AI, a lot of how we do things change, so the way to keep up is to keep updated. I believe so far I’ve been reasonably good at it. AI has only made me more productive.

Are there things I could be better at? Hell, yes! Should I keep investing in constant learning? Most certainly.