Did you know the cartoon series The Jetson’s was originally released in September of 1963? Also, the program wasn’t a commercial success and only 26 episodes were ever produced. The program’s relative failure may, perhaps, surprise you—especially if, like me, you grew up watching countless re-runs of the program. The reason the program didn’t meet…

Unlearning Lesson #16 “It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.” – John Wooden Question #15: (This is a two-part question and you will need a pencil, a single piece of paper and a timer.) Part 1) In 20 seconds, list all of the white things you can think of. (Read no…

The concept of unlearning might seem pointless to some people. So, too, might the idea of doing something that makes you uncomfortable. The surprising thing is this: If you do something out of your comfort zone, it widens your circle of comfort. It this same way, unlearning enhances your awareness of how much you don’t…

Scientists have recently discovered two new black holes that are 10 billions times the size of our sun. 10 billion times! The discovery is quite impressive but scientists still don’t know much about these black holes. In this sense, the discovery is a fitting metaphor for our knowledge: As impressive as our knowledge is, our…

I have been traveling a great deal lately and between trips to Newport, Rhode Island; St. John’s, Canada and Lake George, New York, I thought it would be more relaxing to stay at a Bed & Breakfast near the Green Mountains of Vermont instead of returning home to Minneapolis during my short break between speaking…

I am in Iowa to deliver a keynote presentation (entitled “Why Future Trends in Healthcare Will Require Unlearning“) to the Iowa Healthcare Collaborative today. After working on my presentation early this morning, I decided to go for a walk at sunrise. The photo to the right offers a view of what I saw. As I…

One of my favorite stories about the power of exponential growth is a story about the lake and the water lily, and it can help anyone that needs to be jolted out of their current—or what I called their linear—mode of thinking. In a nutshell, here’s the story: Imagine a lake that sprouts a single…

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…

"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…

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…