Unlearning — The biggest strength of an impact-driven category designer
Learning begins with unlearning — Vasudeva Sri Krishna, Bhagavad Gita
The Mahabharata. A magnum opus by Vyasa. It was more than a bedtime story for me. I was brought up on its teachings. I remember the first time my mom and dad ever told me the story.
It's apparently the longest poem was ever written. Some say it's a myth others say it's reality. It didn’t matter to me what it was. It impacted me profoundly.
I try and wake up every day and ask myself what would Krishna have said? What would he have done? How would he have interpreted this?
But in order to explain this, I need to explain a bit about the plot of Mahabharath and the Bhagavad Gita.
It starts with one royal family. It branches into two — the Pandavas and Kauravas. A series of events lead up to the battle between good and evil and the throne of Hastinapura.
Krishna supposed to be the 09th avatar of Lord Vishnu is the embodiment of Dharma. He chooses to be the charioteer to Arjuna — one of the Pandava brothers. With both sides poised for battle and as the war conch is about to be blown, Arjuna has a crisis of consciousness.
He starts questioning Krishna on what would happen to him when he kills his own relatives on the battlefield. One is my great uncle, one is my guru and the rest are my cousins, yet you ask me to slay them, Krishna, he says. How will this not make me a sinner?
This leads to Krishna preaching the Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra.
I’ve never been one to believe in institutionalized religion. But I do subscribe to Hindu teachings and philosophy. From a very young age, I didn’t like rules. I liked the fact that Hindu teachings allowed me to question everything. Including God.
Critical thinking, arguments, and questioning accepted knowledge were actively encouraged in Hindu philosophy. That's what I liked about it. This was demonstrated very clearly in the Bhagavad Gita. Arjuna — knowing Krishna was the avatar of Vishnu, questioned him. Killing people for land or a throne is wrong, yet why are we in this battle Krishna? Will it not make me fall from grace he asked.
And Krishna said that for him to understand what Dharma is, Arjuna will have to unlearn everything he knows to be right and wrong. Everything that he has been taught, he needs to unlearn. Everything that he believes to be true he needs to unlearn. Forget the norms and customs of life. Unlearn.
There was a thread on LinkedIn today about category design and being a category designer. It was based on an earlier newsletter by the Category Pirates.
Most people didn’t see category creation as a viable career path. As marketers we are taught and conditioned to believe in:
- Product Market Fit
- Brand before all else
- Best product winning
- Competing
In order to understand category design, we need to first unlearn. We need to constantly question our intuition. We have been brought up to compete. And now suddenly here are a bunch of pirates telling you there is another way. You can create. You don’t have to compete. And of course, this goes against every fiber of our being.
I was lucky. I was brought up to question everything. My parents welcomed questions. It was ok to challenge the norm. Even as a kid I was never interested in really competing. This is prolly why I preferred music, sculpture, reading. My favorite subjects were English Literature and Chemistry — as I felt I could make my own story or experiment. My parents taught me to assume and accept nothing. Even if it comes from them.
When I read the Play Bigger book a couple of years ago, the pieces fell in place for me instantly. But I kept questioning it. I kept unlearning. I kept reading. And yes people will call you confrontational, argumentative, or antagonistic.
Category design started cropping up everywhere after that. I started seeing the world with clarity. With a lens of creation. Once you start seeing creation, it's like a halo effect. You see it in everything. You start seeing ways in which you can create. Everything is positive.
Most people tend to term me as a competitive person. But I used to say I’m not competitive. I like to do my own thing. I didn’t truly realize what I was saying until I read the Play Bigger book.
My biggest asset, skill, takeaway from the Mahabharat bedtime story is — it taught me at a young age to unlearn. As I grew older and really read the Bhagavad Gita I realized what Krishna was talking about was for us to unlearn so that we can create a better world.
So yes. Category design isn’t for everyone. But. If you can find the courage to take a step back — as a founder, an entrepreneur, a marketer, anyone and unlearn. I promise you the equivalent of Newton’s Eureka moment.
The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing. — Socrates, Source- https://www.bighivemind.com/50-quotes-socrates-make-question-everything/
The greatest strength for an impact-driven category designer is UNLEARNING. The thing about unlearning though is it's not just about category design. When we unlearn, we see the world differently. We see potential. We see opportunity. We see the world for what it could be. We see the world better.
And right now the world needs us to see it for the better. It needs us to CREATE.