Posted in Advertising, Architecture, Creativity, Education, Future, Games, Innovation, Marketing, Quiz, Unlearn Strategy
"Every mile you go in the wrong direction is really a two mile error. Unlearning is twice as hard as learning." — Unknown Question: Imagine the Roman Numeral equation below is made out of ten toothpick sticks such that “I” equals one stick and the “X” “+” and “=” all represent two sticks: XI +…
Posted in Advertising, Automobile, Business, Culture, Education, Future, Health Care, Human Resources, Internet, Marketing, Philosophy, Politics, Science, Transportation, Unlearn Strategy
Fellow blogger and change agent, Seth Godin, has an excellent post today entitled "When data and decisions collide." In it, he recounts numerous examples of people ignoring data because it doesn't line up with their "hunches" — or what people think they know but "just ain't so." Godin is pessimistic about the time it will take most…
Posted in Advertising, Agriculture, Automobile, Black Swans, Books, Business, Creativity, Current Affairs, Education, Energy, Future, General, Innovation, Internet, Marketing, Newspaper, Publishing, Unlearn Strategy
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…
Posted in Business, Culture, Education, Energy, General, Jump the Curve, Legal, Marketing, Politics, Quiz, Unlearn Strategy
"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damn lies and statistics." Mark Twain This past Friday Bjorn Lomborg had a thoughtful editorial entitled Technology Can Fight Global Warming. As a professional technologist and futurist, I couldn’t agree more and I have written about this idea frequently. Nevertheless, I find Lomborg’s use of statistics highly unprofessional….
Posted in Advertising, Business, Computer Industry, Creativity, Culture, Education, Future, General, Health Care, Internet, Jump the Curve, Manufacturing, Marketing, Media, Politics, Television, Unlearn Strategy
Take a look at the pictures to the right. What's wrong with them? The answer would seem pretty obvious: they are upside down. But that is wrong. They are only "wrong" from your perspective. From outer space there is no up or down, so the globe can just as correctly be viewed from one perspective…
Posted in Advertising, Books, Business, Culture, Education, Future, General, Internet, Jump the Curve, Marketing, Media, Politics, Sales, Telecommunications, Unlearn Strategy
This is the latest iteration of famous “Shift Happens” video with a focus on social media. If nothing else, it should serve as a reminder of to all of us why we must constantly unlearn. Enjoy!
Posted in Advertising, Business, Creativity, Culture, Education, General, Marketing, Neuroscience, Psychology
A series of newspapers and Internet sites are reporting on new research, profiled in the latest issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, which suggests that multi-taskers are worse at multi-tasking. Before jumping on the bandwagon and decrying the scourge of multi-tasking, I would encourage you to read this thoughtful post from one of…
Posted in Advertising, Business, Creativity, Design, Food, Food and Drink, General, Marketing, Retail, Television
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…
Posted in Advertising, Analogy, Books, Business, Creativity, Education, General, Human Resources, Jump the Curve, Marketing, Politics, Unlearn Strategy
Unlearning information. It's sounds paradoxical, right? After all, who in their right mind, would want less information? Well, you might if you want to succeed in the future. Consider this quote which I came across in Jonah Lerner's informative new book, "How We Decide": "A wealth of information creates a poverty of attention." It is…
Posted in Creativity, Culture, Food, Food and Drink, General, Marketing, Neuroscience, Psychology, Stories, Unlearn Strategy
Yesterday, I encouraged people interested in unlearning to "trust but verify" their instincts. One area where this technique might save you some money is to have a friend or loved one give you a blind taste of your favorite (and perhaps expensive) wine or coffee along with that of a lesser brand. Interestingly, a few years ago researchers…
