Unlearning 101

Non-Pleasure for Pleasure's Sake

I am currently reading William Irvine's book, A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy and stumbled across this paradoxical -- or, at least, counter-intuitive -- idea: Denying yourself pleasure can lead to pleasure.

How?

Consider eating an ice cream cone or, perhaps, a pleasant dessert. Undoubtedly, such an experience would be pleasurable. What people often forget is that the opposite may also be true. In the case of not eating ice cream or dessert it is possible that you may also experience pleasure by being pleased with yourself for showing self-constraint.

Unlearning is Like Quicksand

"Unlearning is like quicksand. The more you fight it, the worse it gets." Jack Uldrich

For a fascinating and informative article (and accompanying video) on how to escape from quicksand, I encourage you to read this article.

Interested in unlearning how action is always the best policy, check out this old post:

Don't Just Do Something, Sit There

Open a Door for Unlearning

Seth Godin recently had a wonderful post entitled Jumping the line vs opening the door. In it, he explained how jumping to the front of a line can be a positive and beneficial act if the person's intention is to open a second door that allows more people to enter the building.

In this same way I believe too many people view knowledge as simply the acquisition of more information-- as if learning was just a matter of going through one-way door.

That's not true. You also need an exit for dumping and dropping that knowledge which has become obsolete or outdated.

Do you have a separate door for unlearning?

Unlearning: An Immunization to Arrogance?

Subjecting yourself to a small dose of a deadly disease is a counter-intuitive idea; and yet this is precisely what happens when we vaccinate ourselves against a myriad of diseases.

One "disease" for which there is sadly no known cure is intellectual arrogance. What then can we do about it? One place to begin is by acknowledging what we don't know. Or as Voltaire once said, "Doubt is an unpleasant condition, but certainty is absurd.)

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Never Let Your Ego Get in the Way of Unlearning

 

Don't be a Turkey: Prepare to Unlearn

In honor of today being Thanksgiving, I thought I would recount a wonderful story from Nassim Taleb's outstanding book, The Black Swan:  

 "Consider a turkey that is fed every day. Every single feeding will firm up the bird's belief that it is the general rule of life to be fed every day by friendly members of the human race "looking out for its best interests," as a politician would say. On the afternoon of the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, something unexpected will happen to the turkey. It will incur a revision of belief."

Taleb goes on to add this: "Think of the feeding again: What can a turkey learn about what is in store for it tomorrow from the events of yesterday? A lot, perhaps, but certainly a little less than it thinks, and it is just that "little less" that may make all the difference."

Here's to wishing you and your loved ones a Happy Thanksgiving ... but remember this: The knowledge you have learned in the past may have been useful, indeed, instrumental to your current success but it is no guarantee that it will insure your survival tomorrow. Just ask a turkey. Stay open to unlearning!

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A Future of Black Swans

Dancing into the Future

Using a mash-up of three of my favorite TED talks from Ken Robinson, Chris Anderson and Derek Sivers, I explain in six-minutes how the future is already here and we’re using dance to create an even better tomorrow. Enjoy!

Do You Live in (a) Detroit?

I don't mean do you physically live in Detroit. Instead, I mean do you and your business live in an environment where you're surrounded by like-minded individuals. Living with -- and around -- people who think the same as you can be comforting but it can also be very dangerous. The fact that the "Big 3" automotive manufacturers all resided in Detroit contributed to their inability to spot emerging trends in the automotive market.

The question I now ask you is this: Might the same might be true of you? Are you living in the equivalent of a Detroit for your business or industry? If so, get out -- now. Alternatively, if that isn't an option and in order to expose yourself to new ideas, start traveling more or inviting more outsiders in.

Beware of the Unlearning Curve

Today, I am in Las Vegas to deliver a keynote speech to the Chief Learning Officer’s summit. The title of my presentation is “Unlearning 101: Why Unlearning is the Key to Your Future.” The talk can best be summarized with the following analogy:

Imagine reaching the summit of a mountain peak. You are proud of your accomplishment because it feels as though you are literally on the top of the world. Unfortunately, after you catch your breathe and the clouds from the summit clear away, off in the distance you see a mountain peak of even greater height. You immediately know that you must scale that mountain next. One problem is that reaching the new summit will require new skills and new knowledge. In short, it will demand that you undergo a “steep learning curve.”

The more immediate problem, however, is that you must first climb back down into the valley before you can begin ascending the higher mountain. This step—which I call the steep unlearning curve—can actually be more difficult because it often requires you to jettison ideas, assumptions, habits and beliefs which were essential in climbing the first summit but are no longer sufficient for the future demands of the higher summit.

As we race into the future, I am confident that most of us will be able to handle the challenges of climbing ever steeper learning curves, I’m concerned that it is the subtle unlearning curves which will trip up most people and organizations and keep them from reaching their fullest--and highest--potential.

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The Future Requires Unlearning 
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The Fruits of Unlearning

Yesterday, after delivering the opening keynote (on future trends) at Beyond 2010 in Edmonton, I had the pleasure of also delivering the closing remarks. Not surprisingly, I discussed the importance of unlearning. In between, however, I had the immense pleasure of listening to a wonderful speaker, Peter Hinssen, who is the author of a new book, The New Normal.

At one point, he showed this video clip from Blackberry:

It's a great ad. Unfortunately, in this era of accelerating change and social media advances, the competition can punch back--quickly, cheaply and effectively as this Apple response demonstrates: My take-a-way is this: Whenever you have a problem, always consider how it might be turned into an opportunity. If you do this you can reap the fruits of unlearning -- be they blackberries, apples or any other fruit.

Reduce Mental Flabbiness: Unlearn

This wonderful commentary by David Brooks was recently brought to my attention. It is entitled A Case of Mental Courage and I highly recommend it. I especially enjoyed the final paragraphs:

To use a fancy word, there’s a metacognition deficit. Very few in public life habitually step back and think about the weakness in their own thinking and what they should do to compensate. A few people I interview do this regularly (in fact, Larry Summers is one). But it is rare. The rigors of combat discourage it.

Of the problems that afflict the country, this is the underlying one. 

Because we so rarely think about the weakness in our own thinking, we have, to use Brooks marvelous phrase, become "mentally flabby." Unlearning is one strategy to keep your mind quick, flexible, adaptable and strong.