Musings on unlearning, reflecting on my company’s value of DARING

Prompted by a talk our leadership team gave on the value of Daring, I suddenly remembered Yoda and his classic line – “You must unlearn what you have learned” – in Star Wars | The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

Let me recount the scene between Yoda and Luke:

Luke has just lifted a few stones with the Force, but when his X-wing sinks deep into the swamp, he is disappointed: “Master, moving stones is one thing, but this is totally different!”

Yoda looks at him, his voice calm but sharp: “No. No different! Only different in your mind. You must unlearn what you have learned.”

Luke sighs: “Alright, I’ll give it a try.”

Yoda replies at once: “No! Try not. Do. Or do not. There is no try.” And when Luke fails, Yoda gently lifts the enormous ship out of the swamp with the Force, then says: “That is why you fail.”

And the key learning that Yoda’s lesson conveys to Luke:

• Luke carries “old knowledge” from his farm life: “Heavy things cannot be lifted”, “Size matters”, “There are physical limits”. These beliefs once helped him survive on Tatooine, but now they have become barriers.
• Yoda does not teach “learning more Force”. He teaches unlearning – having the courage to let go of the old way of seeing the world so that the mind can open to real power (the Force).
• “Only different in your mind” – every limit exists only in your head. Size matters not. Success or failure is also only different in the mind.

I find that unlearning is harder than learning many times over, because:

• Unlearning means cutting away old connections that are deeply ingrained. The brain resists strongly because it thinks: “The old way has helped me survive all these years, why should I give it up?”
• Unlearning is like a “breakup” with a part of the old self: losing the sense of safety, losing identity (“If I no longer believe this, then who am I?”)
• The feeling of being dumber than before (even though you are actually evolving)

That is why Yoda says “You must unlearn” in a stern voice – because he knows this is the hardest battle.

The world we live in now changes too fast, and I believe that anyone who does not unlearn will sooner or later be left behind.

Only when we let go completely can we see reality clearly. And unlearning is the first step to becoming a truly strong version of ourselves.

Have we ever asked ourselves: “Are the things I used to believe in helping me now, or are they holding back my steps?”

I hope you dare to unlearn!