Two of my favorite writers and thinkers have recently released books. Clay Shirky has written a book entitled Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age in which he persuasively argues, among other things, that the Internet is making us smarter because it is allowing society to produce such knowledge accelerators as Wikipedia at virtually no…

Artists can help revitalize urban spaces but first city planners and developers must unlearn some of their ideas about what retail spaces can be used for. To the right is a picture of an abandoned Blockbuster video store. Pictures like this are only going to become more common as people unlearn their reliance on DVDs and…

My focus on unlearning has been borne from my work as a professional futurist. As I explain in this video, the future is changing so fast that as a people and society we must constantly change our worldview. To this end, the Wharton School of Business recently published an formative and insightful article entitled So…

There are five frogs sitting on a log. Four decide to jump off. How many frogs are left sitting on the log?  The answer is five.     Why? Because there is a big difference between deciding to do something and actually doing it.  This is a particularly important point to recall on the day after…

This past summer, on my other blog , I posted this article: To Survive the Future, the Publishing Industry Must Unlearn the Past . Today, I came across this excellent post on the "future of news" from David Martin. I strongly encourage you to read it and here are two excellent quotes from the article which I hope…

Unlearning is simple. Sometimes, as this hilarious video demonstrates, it is as easy as walking. Other times, however, it requires a little more creativity. For a wonderful example of how society might want to unlearn our heavy reliance on the escalator, I invite you to watch this short video:

I have often said that unlearning can be a matter of life or death (here, here and here) and I mean it. To add to my growing body of evidence, I submit this article from the Wall Street Journal. The article reports that hospitals can  dramatically lower the number of infections which strike patients by…

Writing in the Philadelphia Inquirer, Mark Bowden has an excellent commentary entitled "The lost art of influence." At one point he writes, "Being persuasive is hard, because it demands you consider that you might be wrong. To refute opposing points of view capably (and winningly) you must first really hear opposing points of view." Admitting…

Fellow author and change agent, Seth Godin, has an excellent post today entitled "The problem with cable news thinking" in which he outlines 12 ways cable television amplifies the worst elements of emotional reaction. After reviewing the list, it appears to me that all are things the cable industry would do well to unlearn; but…

In my 2008 book, Jump the Curve: 50 Essential Strategies to Help Your Company Stay Ahead of Emerging Technologies, one strategy I encourage people to employ from time to time is that of reading the newspaper backwards. Why? Because it can help you more clearly see where the future is headed. This, in turn, will…