For subscribers

The next career skill you need to learn? How to drop the bad habits

We often talk about lifelong learning and adding more skills. But to see real growth in our career, we must learn the art of subtraction.

Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox

We often talk about lifelong learning and "upskilling" - but in our 40s and 50s, we must learn to unlearn the bad habits that've followed us in our decades at work, says the writer.

We often talk about lifelong learning and "upskilling", but in our 40s and 50s, we must learn to unlearn the bad habits that have followed us in our decades at work, says the writer.

ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG

Sonny Santos

Google Preferred Source badge

For years, as a financial services solutions engineer, I kept my work to myself until it was polished and close to bulletproof. That, I thought, was what professionals did.

Then, in my 40s, I noticed a colleague in her late 20s do the exact opposite – sharing rough thinking in group chats, floating half-formed ideas in meetings, inviting feedback before she had all the answers. 

See more on