The Future Belongs to the Learners: How to Adapt to the Half-Life of Knowledge

The Half-Life of Your Knowledge 

Have you heard about the concept of the half-life of knowledge?  

I was introduced to it in an article by Markus Schuler and Alexandre Saint. According to the article, ‘the half-life of knowledge concept describes the time it takes for half of the knowledge in a certain field to decay or become obsolete.’ 

The article got me thinking. It has been a while since my first degree. Ok, a long while. Excel didn’t exist! 

As Alvin Toffler said, ‘The illiterate of the twenty-first century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.’ 

Many leaders share that they find it difficult to stay up to date with current knowledge. Adaptable leaders recognise that this needs to be a priority. There will be things they need to unlearn and relearn.  

Yet it is hard to unlearn and relearn.  

Watching the YouTube video of Destin Sandler struggling to learn to ride a backwards bicycle shows how difficult it can be.  

Reflecting on your profession and knowledge, what has changed since you started your career?  

What areas do you need to update your knowledge in? 

Most importantly, how are you making this a priority? 

I love the concept of 1% growth. Investing a little bit of time daily updating your knowledge pays off in big dividends over time.  

It could be when you commute to work (if you are still doing that) or early in the morning, at lunch or in the evening, depending on your body clock. 

Remember it will feel uncomfortable when you first start, particularly if you are learning something from scratch. Stick with it and celebrate as you learn, unlearn and relearn. 

Also beware of your brain’s tendency to conserve energy. Recently I was facilitating a group where several members ‘knew’ the topic. They found the content below them. They were no longer intellectually humble. Catch yourself if you do this. It is one of the ways that your brain likes to conserve energy. Unfortunately, it is how we can close ourselves off to ideas or updating our knowledge. 

As adaptable leaders we constantly need to ‘learn, unlearn and relearn.’  

I’m curious, what are you doing to deal with the half-life of your knowledge?