Unlearn or Get Left Behind: Thriving in the AI Revolution
Credit - Tiya Mukherjee

Unlearn or Get Left Behind: Thriving in the AI Revolution

Remember when "job skills" felt permanent? Yeah, those days are gone. AI isn’t just changing what we do—it’s rewriting how we work. To survive, we need to ditch old playbooks and embrace a new reality: unlearning is just as critical as learning.

Why Your Hard-Earned Skills Might Be Sinking You

Think back 5–10 years. What got you promoted?

  • Manually crafting Excel masterpieces?

  • "Managing" teams through endless check-ins?

  • Writing novel-length client emails?

  • Memorizing coding syntax like a textbook?

Today, those "strengths" are either automated, irrelevant, or actively holding you back. Tools like ChatGPT, Power BI, and Notion AI handle the grunt work. Remote teams operate across time zones, making 9-to-5 oversight laughable. Clinging to old methods isn’t just inefficient—it’s professional suicide by inertia.

The Shift: Where Unlearning Hurts (and Pays Off)

1. Reporting & Analysis (Finance, Marketing, Ops) Old: Spending days building fragile Excel models. New: Using Power BI or GPT-4 to generate live dashboards in minutes. → Unlearn: "Manual = accurate." → Relearn: "Automated insights + human intuition = unstoppable."

2. Software Development Old: Coding everything from scratch ("Real devs don’t cheat!"). New: Letting GitHub Copilot handle boilerplate while you solve big-picture problems. → Unlearn: "Tools make you lazy." → Relearn: "AI is your intern—delegate the boring stuff."

3. Leadership *Old: "If I can’t see you, you’re not working."_ New: Trusting outcomes over optics. Leading async with Loom/Notion, not meetings. → Unlearn: "Presence = productivity." → Relearn: "Autonomy + clear goals > micromanagement."

Your Unlearning Checklist

  • Are you loyal to a dying process just because you’ve mastered it?

  • Could a 10-minute AI tool do what takes you 2 hours?

  • When’s the last time you tried something new instead of dismissing it as a "fad"?

Relearn These—Or Risk Obsolescence

  1. Prompting AI → Stop guessing. Learn to talk to tools like ChatGPT like a pro.

  2. Visual Storytelling → Swap text walls for dashboards that actually move decisions.

  3. Async Leadership → Master tools like Slack + OKRs to lead global teams without burnout.

  4. Learning as a Habit → Block 30 mins/week. Not optional.

Organizations: Stop Rewarding the "Old Way"

Want innovation? Reward curiosity, not compliance.

  • Celebrate teams that kill outdated processes.

  • Promote "unlearners"—they’re your future-proof leaders.

  • Make it safe to fail. If experimenting feels risky, your culture’s the problem.

Bottom Line

In the AI era, standing still is falling behind.

  • Unlearning = Ditching what was valuable but now holds you back.

  • Relearning = Adopting tools and mindsets that actually work today. Survival isn’t about what you know—it’s about how fast you can let go and adapt.

Paul Akinjo

Mayor City Of Lathrop

4d

Thanks for sharing, Palash

Pavitra Gurusiddappa

Head of Strategic Partnerships | Accelerating Cloud & AI Adoption | Building Tech Alliances That Scale Impact

2w

Well said. Unlearning and adapting is the real edge now Palash Bharadwaj

Monikaben Lala

Founder | Product MVP Expert | Fiction Writer | Find me @Dubai Trade Show

2w

Palash, thanks for sharing!

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