Unlearning 101

Shopping for the Truth

Last week, it was reported that frequent shopping by men and women increases the life expectancy of people in Taiwan. 

This is undoubtedly great news for shopoholics but before you rush out to the nearest mall in an effort to boost the length of your life know that it is not true.

Although the scientific study was picked up by many media sources, both the scientists making the claim and the reporters who wrote about it made the common mistake of confusing cause and effect.

To understand why the study is untrue all a person needs to do is view the situation from a different perspective. In this case, it should have occurred to the scientists that ill-health prevents shopping. In other words, if you are sick or bed-ridden it's a whole lot more difficult to go shopping frequently.

Interested in a way that shopping really can save you money? Check out this older post by Jack Uldrich:

Shop in Reverse

Unlearn ... Just in Case

The global supply chain is an impressive feat of modern management. The problem is that in its quest to squeeze out ever greater efficiencies with its "just-in-time" system of inventory it has left itself extremely vulnerable to large, rare and unpredictable events such as the recent Japanese earthquake-tsunami.

Such events are, of course, unpredictable but one way to prepare for them is to create a small 'just-in-case' inventory. It might not be efficient but, when it really matters, it could save a company's bacon.

If you are a slave to efficiency and "six-sigma" thinking, it might behoove you to unlearn your strict reliance on "just-in-time" inventory ... just in case the unexpected happens sometime in the future.

P.S. I realize the cartoon doesn't really match the theme of this post ... I just thought it was funny.

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Paris, Big Mamma and Ineffective Advertising

I recently had the pleasure of going to Paris on vacation and happened to use the city's fine subway system on a daily basis. One of the things that struck me as odd was the large number of advertising posters for Martin Lawrence's new "Big Mamma" movie. Now, to be honest, I can't imagine why anyone would want to see the movie in English, let alone French. This, however, is not the point of this post. Rather, it is to question why Hollywood continues to take such a wasteful, shotgun approach to advertising.

We live in an era of targeting advertising. With little effort, Hollywood could find out that I am more likely to enjoy the "King's Speech" or "Waiting for Superman" than "Big Mamma" and then find a way to pitch me on the Internet or, perhaps, my smartphone.

Alas, before businesses and industries can learn a new and better approach, often they must first unlearn the old, ineffective way.

I know Hollywood can grasp this message. After all, we are no longer watching silent, black-and-white movies. Why then is Hollywood still advertising as though it -- and its customers -- are living in the past?

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Shop in Reverse

Next time you need to go shopping for a new wardrobe, try this little trick: Shop in reverse. Instead of buying the most expensive item first (say a suit or a dress), buy the least expensive item first (i.e. socks or underwear).

Why? It might save you some money.

It is a well-known fact that if you pay a lot of money for a suit or a dress, the sales associate can more easily "upsell" you on lesser items such as shirts, shoes, socks and underwear.

If, however, you reverse the process and buy the most inexpensive first you are less likely to spend as liberally on the bigger ticket items.

Think of it this way: It is easier to spend $40 on socks after you have just spent $1000 on a suit. It is much more difficult to be lured into a $1000 suit if you only spent $10 on socks.

Absolut Unlearning

While TiVo-ing through the Daily Show with Jon Stewart this evening, I stopped to watch an ad for Abolsut Vodka. (It is posted below for your viewing enjoyment.) It is a clever bit of advertising, but before you rush out and purchase a bottle, I suggest you review this now four year-old article entitled "A Humble Old Label ices its Rivals." In a blind taste test (which is one of my favorite unlearning tactics), a humble $13 bottle of Smirnoff smoked the competition, including the likes of Grey Goose and Ketel One.

As further evidence of the silliness of spending $20-$50 more per bottle for a fancy Polish, Russian or Finnish vodka in a sleek and well-designed bottle, it is worth recalling that by definition vodka is defined as a "neutral spirit, so distilled, or so treated after distillation with charcoal or some other material as to be without distinctive character, aroma, taste or color." In other words, all vodkas, by definition, should taste the same!

If this still isn't enough for you, consider this: almost every vodka producer buys its neutral spirits (which have already been distilled from grain) from companies such as Archer Daniels Midland.

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Unlearning Starbucks

 

Unlearning Your Age

The Wall Street Journal has an interesting article describing how appliance manufacturers are now doing a better job of designing products for aging baby boomers. One strategy they employ is to make their younger engineers wear "aging suits" to help them empathize with and better understand how more elderly users might actually experience a product. To this end, the younger workers tape up their fingers to simulate arthritis; stick cotton balls in their ears to lessen their hearing; and wear thick glasses to affect impaired vision. All-in-all the strategy seems to have delivered some impressive results and it speaks to the benefits of unlearning one's age.

Google and P&G Unlearn From Each Other

Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal ran a front page articleon how Google and Proctor & Gamble are swapping employees in an effort to spur innovation. It's a great idea, but much of what the two companies are doing is unlearning from the other. In P&G's case, its marketing people are unlearning that marketing dollars should primarily be used to fund television advertising -- whose customers are typicallypassive. And, instead, the company needs to spend more than 2% of its budget on Internet advertising targeting more "active" consumers and engaging bloggers (such as Moms) who use their products.

Unlearning Bubbles

The Internet, the real estate market, fuel cell technology, nanotechnology and, now, "clean tech" have all experienced an investing "bubble." In retrospect, it is easy to point to signs that the market was inflating to dangerous levels. It is even easier to suggest that such bubbles are a bad thing -- precisely because so many investors got burned and lost a great a deal of money.

Bob Metcalfe, an early and successful Internet entrepreneur, see bubbles differently. He sees bubbles as a good thing. Here's his quote: "From Internet history, we know that bubbles are normal. Bubbles are an accelerator of technology progress. Bubbles go against the status quo. We should encourage bubbles."

I suspect that such statements are much easier to make when you're already a billionaire; as opposed, say, to someone to just lost a large amount of money in the stock market. Nevertheless, there is a certain logic to his argument and we may want not to dismiss all bubbles as cases of irrational investors getting sucked up by the winds of "irrational exuberance." Instead we want to view them as "technology accelerators." (This might not ease the financial pain of those who lost money in the bubble, but it might at least make them feel a little bit better about themselves.)

Unlearning Retail Advertising

To understand how facial recognition technology could require both retailers and marketing executives to unlearn their current advertising techniques, read this post on my other blog, www.jumpthecurve.net.

Unlearning Home Construction

One of the things I really enjoy about studying emerging technologies is that the field constantly challenges my thinking and forces me to think differently about the future. To this end, I invite you to read this article on a new “print-a-house” construction technology.

In the near future, it is possible that homes will be built in a few hours using automated fabrication techniques. Among other things, this means that the construction industry will need to “unlearn” its existing construction methods. It also suggests that “affordable” housing could become more than just a political platitude—it could become a political reality.