"The most important lessons lay not in what I needed to learn, but in what I first needed to unlearn." Jim Collins
The following quote was taken from this Harvard Business article entitled "Never Let Your Ego Stop You from Learning." I would like to argue that ego is even a bigger deterrent to unlearning. Why? Because once a person or an institution has invested time, effort, energy and money in becoming an established leader or expert in a certain field, it is that much more difficult to unlearn the things that provided this elevated status. This is because it would require the person or institution to admit that their status or expertise was based on a faulty or misguided assumption. This is why brilliant scientists often can't let go of an existing paradigm -- even in the face of compelling evidence. To do so would mean invalidating a lifetime's work -- and this isn't easy even for the world's smartest and most intelligent people. In fact, it can be more difficult.
My advice: If you are serious about unlearning, you'll need to learn to check your ego at the door. This might not feel comfortable and it may mean you can no longer lay claim to the title of "expert", but it will permit you the ability to enter new and exciting rooms, and quite possibly allow you to make discoveries that will take you to the next level.
