Unlearning tasks or concepts can be difficult and counter-intuitive, but often important in the supply chain industry, according to author, educator and business consultant Kate Vitasek.
Ms. Vitasek, who developed the Vested business model to foster collaborative working relationships, discussed the concept of unlearning in a blog post on Vested's website.
"A great example is a procurement professional who has spent the last 30 years perfecting the art of 'buying,'" she wrote. "The Vested methodology teaches that the partnering with strategic suppliers outperforms 'buying,' but it is very difficult for procurement professionals to let go of old-school dogmas that focus on price and not value."
She acknowledges many supply chain professionals may have trouble adapting to new strategies, since the old methodologies are so embedded in their brains. This is where unlearning comes into play.
"Once we can recognize and face our cognitive biases, we are a long way down the road to accepting new ways of thinking and doing," Ms. Vitasek wrote.
To view the blog post, click here.
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