Posted in Videos
We all hold in our heads information and opinions that are outdated or obsolete. This reality frequently keeps us from embracing a successful future. Jack explains how to get rid of this unneeded baggage.
Posted in Videos
Jack tells how to jump the curve on new trends by thinking exponentially, unlearning the past, and believing in doing the impossible.
Posted in Education, General, Intelligence
The title of this post is purposely intended as a double entendre. It could be read as we must "unlearn many of the things we learned in school" (which is true) or it might also be reading as a noun — as in society needs a school of unlearning. As I have been developing my…
"From the local school district to the federal Department of Education, humility, caution and open-mindedness are in order. Because right now, the main thing we know about improving schools is that we don't know very much." This is the final paragraph from a thoughtful editorial by Steve Chapman. I encourage those who are confident that school vouchers…
I recently snapped this photo outside of a local middle school where my daughter swims. I like the premise of the quote but if the school — or any school — truly wants to prepare kids for a changing world they must also teach them how to unlearn. To understand why, watch this 5-minute video…
Posted in One minute unlearning, Think Like a Child
Take a look at this old Viceroy cigarette advertisement. The tagline is “The man who thinks for himself …”. The irony, of course, is that marketing executives at Viceroy were telling the “thinking man” how to think. Now, I’m not so presumptuous as to tell you how to think, but it is my opinion that…
Posted in Business, Business School, Unlearn Strategy
Thinking about getting an MBA? Here’s my advice: Don’t! For starters, it is a waste of money for the majority of students. As Dale Stephens writes in this piece (“A Smart Investor Would Skip the M.B.A.), your time would be better spent taking free online courses and using the savings to instead pursue unique training and…
Posted in Books
Dear Readers: As is my annual tradition, here is a list of the books which have caused me to engage in the most unlearning over the past year. You will note that the books include both new and older books. (If you’ve read a book that challenged your thinking in the past year and/or caused…
Posted in Change, Unlearning
“We are so good at seeing patterns that, often, we see them where they don’t exist.” –Michael Mauboussin Question #26: If you flip a coin 14 times which is more likely to occur: a) The coin will land on “heads” 14 straight times (H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H); or b) this random outcome: T-T-H-T-H-H-H-T-T-H-T-H-T-T? The answer is that the…
“The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool.” –Richard Feynman Richard Feynman, the Nobel-prize winning physicist, who uttered these wise words also kept “a notebook of things I don’t know.” One way to remain open to the need for unlearning is to similarly keep “a…
