The Art of Letting Go: The Leadership Skill That Builds Lasting Resilience

Most leaders I work with describe feeling like they’re constantly firefighting, not to mention exhausted, moving from one crisis response to the next. But here’s what I’m also seeing: the organisations that emerge stronger from this ongoing turbulence aren’t necessarily just the best planners – they’re also the best at letting go of what no longer serves them.

What we know from research: Research examining organisational resilience across 59 studies reveals that organisational resilience depends on learning that happens in three stages: anticipation (before crises), coping (during disruption) and adaptation (after events).

But here’s the critical finding: effective resilience requires not just learning new capabilities, but deliberately ‘unlearning’ – abandoning old mental models, practices and routines that no longer serve the organisation.

My POV: The research backs up what I see with clients – leaders invest heavily in crisis response plans, but people in the most resilient organisations don’t wait for disruption to prioritise learning. They’ve built what we call ‘learning systems’ that capture knowledge continuously – from successes, failures, near-misses and even routine operations.

Most importantly, they’ve mastered the hardest skill of all: knowing what to stop doing.

As a Leader, what can you do?

• Make ‘unlearning’ part of your strategy process. Before your next strategy session, explicitly ask your leadership team: ‘What assumptions, processes or ways of thinking do we need to abandon to move forward?’ Don’t just focus on what to add or improve – identify what needs to be eliminated. I find that teams often know what’s holding them back but rarely prioritise bold action to actually change.
• Build reflection and challenge into everyday operations, not just crisis response. The most resilient organisations learn continuously from routine activities, not just major disruptions. Create brief, regular moments where teams can prioritise this; a culture where any team member is able to bring up what’s working, what isn’t and what’s surprising them. This makes adaptive learning a daily habit before you need it.
• Create cross-organisational learning opportunities. Most companies share knowledge within departments but could create wider opportunities. Set up regular forums where different parts of your business can share what they’re learning. The insights from your sales team’s client feedback might solve a product development challenge, and your operations team’s efficiency gains might inform your service delivery approach.

What difference will it make? Organisations that systematically learn and unlearn develop resilience that spans preparation, crisis management and adaptation stages. They don’t just survive disruption – they emerge stronger because they’ve practised the discipline of questioning assumptions and discarding what no longer serves them. When change hits, they move faster because they’re not carrying the weight of outdated approaches alongside new ones.

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