Unlearning 101

Question: Can You Unlearn Without Any New Words? Answer: Yes.

Want to get started unlearning? A while back, I suggested it could be done in seven words. It's still solid advice but I have continued to unlearn myself and how believe it can be done without any new words.

Rather than explain, let me show you. Review the two examples below and notice how much powerful the second questions are than the first--even though no new words have been added or subtracted only rearranged).

Example 1 (Appropriate for teachers, parents and educators):

How intelligent are you?

How are you intelligent?

Example 2 (Appropriate for everyone):

Will I make a difference?

I will make a difference!

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Permission to Become Your Own Authority Figure

Does no one in a position of authority like your business proposal, your manuscript or your idea?

Stop listening to others "no" and say "yes" to yourself. Give yourself permission to become your own authority figure.

Pissed Off? Try Unlearning.

I travel frequently and it is not uncommon that I must use public restrooms. On occasion, I encounter a disgusting and unsanitary toilet (such as the picture to the right).

My initial reaction -- pardon the pun -- is to get pissed off at the person who did it. This is only natural. 

What isn't natural is that I immediately put together a psychological profile of the culprit in my mind. Typically, he is an overweight, middle-aged, cellphone-talking, self absorbed salesman who thinks he (and his time) are more important than anyone else.

In the very rare case, my assessment might be correct (although I highly doubt it.)

In an attempt to unlearn this bad habit (and to remind myself that the only person I can really change is myself), I decided to engage in a little mental exercise the last time I encountered a nasty, stained toilet seat.

Instead of casting negative aspersions on the mental image of the culprit, I considered an opposite scenario. I asked myself if could there be any scenario whereby leaving such a mess would be justified -- or at least understandable.

To my amazement there were.

For example, I pictured an elderly man with Parkinson's disease who, through no fault of his own, could no control his accuracy. He wanted to clean up his mess but because of his ailing back, he was unable to do so. Ashamed, he quietly left the bathroom.

Or, perhaps, a young boy was traveling with his single mother. Unable to escort the boy into the bathroom, the child took care of business but made a mess because he was nervous. He then departed in haste because he knew his mother was anxiously waiting outside.

Did either scenario actually occur? Probably not, but they are no more or less likely than my initial "self-absorbed salesman" scenario. They do, however, have the advantage of putting a more positive spin on a negative situation. They also had the added benefit of changing my mental attitiude from one of anger to one of compassion.

My advice: Next time you encounter a similar situation, try to unlearn your first impression and view the world from a new and different perspective. It might just allow you to blow off steam and keep you from getting pissed off at the world.

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A Curious Connection? Brains, Mind Maps and the Universe

Take a look at the pictures to the right. The symmetry between microscopic neurons and a macroscopic galaxy is rather surprising. Is there a connection between the two?

Honestly, I don’t know but I do believe the human mind is capable of discovering the answer.

To this end, I invite you to watch this six minute video of a fascinating and powerful (and potentially disruptive) new educational tool called Nibipedia. Pay special attention to the configuration of the “Mind Map”—you may be surprised at the similarity to the above images of the brain and the universe.

Is there a connection? Again, I don’t know but, perhaps, with the assistance of Nibipedia, James Burke and the brainpower of millions of other people we can find out.

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Listen and Unlearn

Recently, I was on a flight and as we were descending the pilot's voice came over the intercom and, tongue-in-cheek, he asked everyone to "turn off their books." It was a funny comment but it does hint at a broader sea change -- more and more people are reading books on their Kindles and iPad's.

This is no surprise.

What might be surprising is just how quickly many authors and publishers will embrace videos; location-based information; and other digital features to create more interactive books. To understand what the book of the future might look like, I invite you to watch this three-minute presentation by Mike Matas on next-generation digital media. (Caution: It may require some unlearning for you book lovers.) 

What's Your Managerial Default Setting?

Seth Godin has a wonderful post today entitled "Headroom" in which he states, "The only thing worse than being able to say, "my boss won't let me," is having to acknowledge, "my boss will let me."

It's a great point.

Now what if, as a manager or leader in your organization, you told people your default managerial position was that you were granting them full authority to act. In other words, your expectation was that they were there to get things done.

The difference is that instead of people coming to you to ask for permission to do things (and thus you act as a centurion), you redesign your position to facilitate the actions your team has already initiated.  

It is the difference between playing defense and going on the offensive. 

In this era of accelerating change, I think there is really only one way to go.

If you haven't already changed your default setting from permission to action, it's time.

Of Flexitarians, Knowmads and Twitter

I'll freely admit I'm just a wanderer in the world of social media but I love the new connections -- to both people and ideas -- that I derive from the medium.

To this end, I recently asked @dougbecker what he meant by describing himself as a "flextarian" and he responded, "It's a loaded term, but I mean it to connote that I avoid eating meat whenever possible, and am not strident about it."

What I like about this definition is that it conveys a firm preference for a particular way of life but it isn't dogmatic. It is a mindset that all of us -- myself included -- should try to adopt with regard to our own particular beliefs, habits and preferences. The "flex"-part allows the space for unlearning -- if necessary -- to occur.

Next, in response, to this old post on ambiguity, @CoCreatr, responded, "Many situations are not so binary, they are spectrum ... Embrace nonduality, be a knowmad."

Just as I enjoy the term "flextarian," I also like the phrase, "be a knowmad."

Why? Perhaps it is because the "know" part of "knowmad" reveals a desire for knowledge (or perhaps truth) but it also suggests that a pathless journey maybe the best way to pursue that goal.

It's Official: We All Need to Unlearn

If you have ever rented a video/DVD just because it has won an obscure award from some international film festival, I think you'll appreciate the image (and the saying) to the right.

It's easy to laugh at the truth of the statement but I believe we do the same with people. Did you know, for example, that a patient is more likely to heed a doctor's advice if they are wearing a white lab coat? Did you further know that people are more likely to follow a person into an intersection (even when there is red light) if they are wearing a suit?

Tiny leaves, white lab coats, respectable dress and countless other symbols can help us navigate the world around us but they do not exempt us from the heavy responsibility of thinking for ourselves.

Unlearn Your Mind-Set and Adopt a Mind-Flex

I have read that when we are born our brains contain somewhere near one hundred billion neurons, and it can make a nearly infinite variety of possible connections--or neural pathways. As we grow older, however, we "pave" over many (or "hard-wire" if you will) of these neural pathways because they are so critical to our survival. 

This "hard-wiring," unfortunately, has some negative consequences. For example, it is speculated that this is why adults have a more difficult time learning a second language than children. Their brains are no longer as malleable.

In an era of relative stability (where society and our jobs didn't change much) there wasn't much of a downside to closing down seldom used neural pathways. But what about in an era of accelerating and constant change--such as society is now experiencing and will continue to experience?

I personally believe this is a bad thing. Moreover, it isn't merely sufficient to be open to adopting a new "mind-set" now and again. Instead, I believe we need to encourage a strategy of "mind-flex"--of keeping open as many possible neural pathways for as long as possible--for we must always be receptive to change and doing things in a new and fresh way.

How do we do this? To be honest, I don't have the slightest clue but perhaps we could start by:

Keeping An Open Mind; Embracing Ambiguity; Seeing Things from Different Perspectives; Asking New Questions; Acknowledging What We Don't Know; and Teaching Unlearning in Kindergarten.

If you agree--or even if you disagree--I'd love to hear your suggestions for how else we might encourage "Mind-Flex."

The Consumer as an Invisible Innovator

My last few posts may have seemed trivial to some readers. After all, who cares whether you see "a tiger in a jungle" or "a jungle with a tiger" or, alternatively, whether there is "a fly in your soup" or "your soup has a fly in it."

Alas, I just stumbled across a wonderful article on consumer-driven innovation that makes the distinction more practical. In the interview, MIT professor Eric von Hippel says this:

For many years it has been very difficult to convince people of the increasing importance of new product and service development by users serving their own needs. Part of the reason is that the ongoing shift from producer to user innovation is also a paradigm shift. User innovation does not fit into the traditional, producer-centered paradigm. Until people understand the new paradigm, even though user innovation is in plain sight, it can be invisible to them.

In short, many companies are spending vast sums of money on research and development--often to little effect. If only they would change their perspective and view the consumer as someone who not only uses their products but who might also have keen insights and suggestions for product improvement, they could tap into a vast pool of impressive -- and free -- innovation.

This, of course, first requires that they unlearn the idea that their perspective of "who does R & D" is the only perspective with any value.

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