Unlearning - a vital step in the process of innovation and change webinar

This was a joint The Nuclear Institute: Project Management SIG and APM’s three part Nuclear webinar series

How can we learn and innovate in a highly regulated and process-driven industry such as Nuclear? The secret may be unlearning, a process for freeing yourself from past assumptions, habits and ‘rules’ to enable you to adapt and change your behaviour for the very different requirements of the future.

Why is it sometimes so difficult to manage change? All change requires new learning and ‘learning to learn’ is a core skill for individuals and teams in modern organisations. In order to learn, we may need to ‘unlearn’ - freeing ourselves from existing constructs in order to be able to move forward.

This webinar presented on Thursday 15 December explored the strength with which we hold on to existing patterns of thought and behaviour and how the concept of coming into a situation with ‘an open mind’ is generally not the case! Life experiences and prior knowledge always colour our perception of new situations. Which assumptions do we carry as a result of these experiences? Which are helpful and positive in facing up to change and which can be limiting? The example was given of a simple, practical task which was observed and discussed the process of unlearning as a prerequisite to successful future learning. As the steps in the activity unfolded, the speaker described how these relate to organisational learning and suggest some ideas for embracing unlearning as part of successful organisational development.

Webinar resources

Ann has very kindly allowed her presented material to be made available for viewing.
The slides on APM Slideshare and the webinar recording on YouTube is now available in our APM resources area and also embedded below for reference.

This webinar content is suitable for professionals with an intermediate level of experience.

Presenter
Ann Alder has worked in education, personal and organisational development for over 40 years. As a founder and director of RSVP Design Ltd, she has designed and delivered experiential learning tools, resources and programmes to global businesses and international not-for-profit organisations such as the World Food Programme and WHO. She has worked as a personal coach to leaders and managers at international business schools, including IMD in Switzerland and the Centre for Creative Leadership (CCL) in the USA. Ann is the author of ‘Pattern-Making, Pattern-Breaking’, a handbook for facilitators and learning specialists which guides them in the use of practical, experiential learning methods as part of the change agenda.

Host
Thomas Morris is the Project Management Specialist Interest Group Chair that is jointly sponsored by APM and the Nuclear Institute.  His career has spanned over several Countries in both the public and private sectors, predominantly focussed on transformational change and outcome delivery.  He currently works for Amentum as the organisation’s portfolio and programme lead, supporting multiple programmes of National Importance whilst enabling the business to grow.  Thomas is passionate about unlocking the potential in people, and this combined with a focus on the nuclear sector, provides a fantastic platform to make a positive impact.