Let’s Fix Work Episode 93:
This week I am introducing you to Barry O’Reilly, a business advisor, entrepreneur, and author who has pioneered the intersection of business model innovation, product development, organizational design, and culture transformation. Barry authored both Unlearn and Lean Enterprise. If this isn’t enough cred, he is also the founder of ExecCamp plus faculty at Singularity University. He is truly a super cool guy.
Barry is an expert on how to question your beliefs and how to unlearn things. During the episode, we talk about learning your assumptions, your beliefs, and the things you thought to be true which may not be true. Next, we take all of these things and discuss how each may be holding you back personally and professionally.
Barry has some practical tools, tips, and techniques to help you move yourself towards greater success in your career and in your life. Tune into this episode of Let’s Fix Work to learn how to achieve your goals and how to stop failing over and over.
In this episode you’ll hear:
- What it means to unlearn something and how you can do it.
- How to identify what’s outdated and what’s still working in your personal and professional lives.
- Some circumstances which cause you to fail plus how to unlearn the things getting in your way of success.
- How it is important to ask yourself, “What would be my success story?”
- Why it’s important to think big when you are working to unlearn something.
- How leaders and corporations can look at unlearning differently.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
TELL ME MORE ABOUT BARRY O’REILLY’S UNLEARNING. WHAT IS THIS?
Barry O’Reilly is the author of Unlearn. Unlearning is a systematic approach to help individuals recognize when existing behaviors or thoughts are actually limiting the ability to succeed and, therefore, learning to adapt. Barry’s definition of unlearning:
“Unlearning is a process of letting go, reframing, or moving away from once effective mindsets and behaviors which were effective in the past but now limit your success. It’s not forgetting, removing, or discarding knowledge. It’s a conscious act of letting go of outdated information and making space for new information to inform your decision making.”
SO, HOW DO YOU IDENTIFY WHAT IS NO LONGER WORKING OR OUTDATED?
First and foremost, you have to be open to unlearning or, at least, curious enough to realize you need a change. Barry uses a few trigger questions to help an individual identify their limiting areas. These questions can include:
- Is there any area where you’re not living up to the expectations you have for yourself?
- Once you’ve identified a specific area, fast-forward two years into the future and ask yourself, “What would be happening differently if you had totally obliterated that challenge?”
Essentially you are coming up with something quantifiable which describes your challenge and also describes an example of how you will know you’ve solved this challenge.
WHAT CAUSES THE PERSON TO FAIL OVER AND OVER AT THEIR GOALS?
As Barry explained, “Most people just do things which are comfortable to them. When we get in these scenarios, we gravitate towards what feels comfortable to feel certain and what we know we can do. Therefore, to make a change, you’re going to have to do something which is a little uncomfortable, that maybe you aren’t excellent at doing. You’re going to have to build competency. By going through this process, this is where you discover the opportunity to not only develop yourself but also find out what works and what doesn’t. And potentially, you will get the breakthroughs you need.”
WHERE SHOULD I START?
Start small. Barry explains, “Starting small is so important because it makes it safe to fail.”
Resources from this episode:
Unlearn
How High Performance Organizations Innovate at Scale
Barry O’Reilly on LinkedIn
Barry’s Blog
Barry’s Unlearn Podcast
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