Unlearning in business is the key to successful growth

The importance of unlearning applies whether you are in business or not, with the context of this article set in owning a hospitality business. The pace is relentless, expectations are constantly shifting, and every decision touches staff, customers and your bottom line. But amidst the pressure to “know the answers,” the most overlooked skill for business owners may just be the ability to unlearn.

Unlearning doesn’t mean forgetting your hard earnt learnings. It means letting go of what no longer works—making space for better answers, better systems and better experiences for everyone involved.

Let’s explore how unlearning evolves—and why mastering it is essential for your success.

1. The Simplicity of Yes or No

Early in life—and early in business—we learn in black-and-white terms: “Can I afford this?” “Will this work?” “Is this a good hire or not?”

It’s a necessary start, especially in the scrappy early days of business ownership. But running a hospitality business solely on survival-mode thinking is exhausting and limiting. You need nuance—and that starts with unlearning the overly simplistic view that there’s only one right way to do something.

2. Context is Everything

As experience builds, so does perspective. A staff member’s frustration might not be about the task—but about how they do or don’t feel valued. A guest’s complaint might not be about the meal—but about the wait time, the music, or a staff member’s tone of voice.

Unlearning here means realising that your view is just one of many. The context of a customer, a team member, or even the weather that day can all change how “right” or “wrong” a decision is.

3. The Unknown Unknowns: You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know

As a hospitality owner, you know the feeling when something isn’t working, but often you can’t quite put your finger on why. You’ve trained your staff, your menu is tight, your systems seem solid—yet feedback is off and results aren’t where you want them to be.

This is where unlearning means accepting that what you know isn’t always enough. The gaps and learnings are in what you haven’t noticed. Maybe there’s a shift in customer expectations or team dynamics that hasn’t been addressed and is impacting your business.

Sometimes, the best move isn’t to tweak what you already know—it’s to seek out what’s missing. Ask better questions. Invite feedback that you might not want to hear. That’s where better answers live.

4. Accumulated Context: The Full Picture

Now layer it all: your experience, trends, customer behaviour, economic shifts and your team’s energy on a rainy Tuesday. Impactful decisions rarely exist in isolation.
A great owner knows that our context for things is always changing. Unlearning here means letting go of “what worked last week, month or year” and considering if and how the situation has evolved.

That promotion that significantly boosted bookings in 2024 – might fall flat in 2025. Better decisions come from seeing through multiple lenses and layers: what you know, what your team knows, what your customers feel, and what might be missing – what and where are the gaps to act on?

5. Your Strategy: Adjust in Real Time

In hospitality, you don’t always have the luxury of slow pivots. Customers complain, supply issues arise, staffing gaps are constant —sometimes you need to adjust fast.
The best unlearner’s don’t cling to how things “should” be or ‘have’ been. They observe, adjust and reframe quickly.

To allow everyone to change on the fly can result in system erosion or chaos. To the best team suggestions say, “Let’s try it and see”. Find ways to test the best ideas, patiently review the results and then decide whether change is required or not.

This process shows leadership, builds trust and increases the value of the idea of pursuing better, together.

6. Wisdom: Staying Agile in a Fast-Moving Industry

Hospitality isn’t slowing down. Tech evolves. Customer and staff expectations change.

Continually ask: What change do we need to consider and act on? What can we let go of? Stay curious. Stay light on your feet.

Final Thoughts

The most powerful role you play in business may well be as the chief unlearner. Leading in the letting go of outdated thinking makes space for smarter answers, from both you and your team —answers that reflect your customers’ needs, your team’s insights, and your own growth.

In a business where everything touches everything and everyone, unlearning isn’t a risk—it’s a success strategy.