Using four straight

lines and without

lifting your pencil off
the paper, connect
all nine dots.
To arrive at the correct solution, you
must think “outside the box.”

Unlearning is the same. It is about

broadening your perspective and
connecting new dots.
 IQ accounts for what
portion of career success?

A. 50 to 60% B. 25 to 49%
C. 23 to 34% D. 11 to 22%
The answer is 4 to 10% - or none of
the above. Often, we limit ourselves
to a predefined and arbitrary set of
rules.

Unlearning requires an appreciation

of the fact that many rules were
meant to be broken.
 What two colors
are the yield sign?
 The yield sign has been red and white
since 1971. If you said yellow and black,
it is worth considering what other old
information in your life might need to
be updated.

Unlearning requires that you

yield to new facts.
 Study Picasso’s
painting of
"Mother and Child."
Do you notice
anything out of
the ordinary?
 The artist ignores the common
school-age advice of staying
“within the lines.”

As Picasso once said, “To blossom

forth, a work of art must ignore or
rather forget all the rules.” 

Are there aspects of your

life in which you need to
unlearn the rules and draw
“outside the lines”?
Why does it get
hotter in the
summer?
 This question was once posed to the
graduating class of Harvard University
and 98% gave an incorrect answer.

Most said it gets hotter in the summer

because the earth moves closer to the sun.
Intuitively this makes sense. After all, if
you move closer to a fire, you get warmer.
But this is the wrong answer.

The reason it gets hotter in the summer is because the tilt of the earth
provides more direct access to sunlight in the summer months.

Are there other assumptions you hold that might be wrong?

Unlearning is a critical skill if you don’t wish to get burned.
Are you more likely
to be injured in a
crosswalk or while
jaywalking?
 A crosswalk. The reason is because
people believe they are safe in a
crosswalk and, therefore, don’t have
to pay close attention.

The future is changing faster than most

people appreciate. Does your business seem
safe? Do you take comfort in doing the
same thing you did yesterday?

If so, you might want to consider “jaywalking” in some other aspects of your life.
Unlearning may feel dangerous, but what’s really risky is playing it safe.
 Take a look at
this picture. Do
you see a picture
of an older woman
or the profile of a
younger woman?
 This famous optical illusion can
be seen both ways.

Mentors can also be either young or old.

Unfortunately, many people think of
mentors as only being older.

One way to unlearn is to get a “reverse

mentor” and actively seek out the opinions
of someone younger than yourself -
someone who has radically different skills,
experiences, and opinions than your own.
Why? Because they can help you see the
world in new ways.
Fold your hands.
You naturally fold them one way. Either you place
your left thumb and fingers over your right thumb
and fingers or, alternatively, you place your right
thumb and fingers over the left thumb and fingers.
Now fold your hands in the opposite manner.
 It feels different doesn’t it?

Unlearning can also feel unnatural at first, but really,

it’s just another form of learning.

Fold your hands differently to remind yourself that, every now and
again, it's healthy to become uncomfortable in your own skin.
 What’s the tallest
mountain in the world?
 Most people answer Mount Everest. That is
incorrect. The tallest mountain - from base
to summit - is Mauna Kea in Hawaii.

The reason most people don’t think of Mauna

Kea is because two-thirds of the mountain is
under water and can’t be seen.

In this same way, future knowledge will be

vastly greater than present knowledge, but because we don’t see it, we have a
tendency to think of our existing knowledge as the peak.

Unlearning requires an appreciation of the fact that climbing the summit

of existing knowledge is not enough. We must also strive to see what we
can’t see and know what we don’t know.
 Are these circles
moving in opposite
directions?
 Look again. The circles aren’t moving.
They are just an optical illusion.

Do you give off a similar illusion of activity by promptly responding to

every voicemail, checking email frequently, and constantly updating your
social networking sites? If these aren’t true priorities, what are you
really accomplishing?

To unlearn, try creating a “not-to-do” list.

What’s wrong with
this picture?
 Did you say it was upside down?
In truth there is nothing wrong with this map. It is just a
matter of perspective. If the first cartographers had been
from Chile or Australia, the world map might look this way.

The world is changing. Globalization, accelerating

technological change, crowd-sourcing, and social networking
are turning the world “upside down.” Unlearning requires us to
re-orient our maps and see the world from a new perspective.
Which is the greater
number - 1 or 2?
 From a strictly mathematical perspective,
two is the greater number.

Now consider the advantages of sharing an entree with your spouse, partner, or
friend the next time you dine out. What are the benefits? Can one be greater
than two if you eat less, waste fewer resources, and/or save more money?

How might you be better off with

fewer physical possessions in other
aspects of your life?

To unlearn, it helps to understand

that “less” can be more.
“If it sounds like a duck
and quacks like a duck,
it must be a duck.”

What do you see?

 Did you say a duck? Look again.
The answer is that the picture can also be viewed as a rabbit.

Frequently, we are quick to label things one way (i.e., either a duck
or a rabbit). Often, the truth is more ambiguous. Can you think of
something or someone you view one way, but a colleague views
another way? Is it possible you aren’t seeing the whole picture?

Unlearning requires us to appreciate and embrace ambiguity.

Remember, just because something looks like a duck,
that doesn’t mean it is a duck.
 Is the
Gateway Arch
in St. Louis
taller or wider?
To most people the arch appears to be
taller. It is not. It is exactly 630 feet
high and 630 feet wide.

Our intuition can be wrong.

Are there people in your life

who might benefit from a more
realistic assessment of their
strengths and weaknesses?

Unlearning isn’t always intuitive, but

it can provide a clearer and more
balanced understanding of reality.
If you randomly flip a coin 10
times, which sequence is more
likely to result:

H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H-H
or
H-T-H-T-H-T-H-T-H-T?
 The odds are exactly the same.
The problem is that people often see
patterns where only randomness exists.
If something happens twice, for example,
a new employee is late for work, or a
company fails to meet Wall Street’s
expectation for three consecutive
quarters, is that a pattern or could it be
a random occurrence?

There is nothing random

about unlearning, other than the fact
that it sometimes requires a better
understanding of randomness.
Take a look at the four
photos to the right.
The picture in the lower
right hand corner is
doctored and looks sad
(and a little creepy).

Now flip the card

upside down.
Notice how the frown turns into a smile,
even though nothing has changed except
your vantage point.

Now consider something that makes you

sad. Can the issue be viewed from a
different point of view?

If you’re having problems with this,

consider some advice from that old sage,
Dr. Seuss: “Don’t cry because it’s over.
Smile because it happened.”

Unlearning isn’t guaranteed to turn a

frown into a smile, but you’ll never know
unless you try.
It is true that everyone
puts his or her pants on
one leg at a time.

It is also true that each of us favors using

one leg or the other.

Determine which leg you normally use,

then try putting on your pants with the
opposite leg first.
 It shouldn’t make a difference, but using your
opposite leg will feel awkward, and may even leave
you a little unbalanced.

Unlearning is the same. You will feel “unbalanced” in the

beginning, but as you progress, your stability will improve
and you will come to stand on firmer ground. You may
even gain “a leg up” on the competition.
 All babies have 20 teeth.
If you could return to your childhood and choose between receiving $5 per
tooth from the Tooth Fairy, or a penny for the first tooth, and then have
that penny doubled for each successive tooth, which would you choose?
 If you choose the $5, you would be entitled to $100.
If you choose the penny doubling, your 20th tooth would
be worth $5242.88.

Many technologies are doubling quickly - computers, data

storage, bandwidth, robotics, nanotechnology, etc. Do you
really understand how fast these trends are progressing
and how they might necessitate unlearning?

Unlearning isn’t a childhood fantasy.

It is common “cents.”
What do
you see
in this
picture?
If you are like most people, you see a man and a woman
in a loving embrace. If you were to show the picture to
a young child, they would see dolphins swimming.

It may take a while, but study the illusion

until you can also see the dolphins.

The world is swimming with beauty and deeper meaning,

but often we must unlearn our first impressions and
cultivate a "beginner’s mind.”
What do you
see in this
picture?
Is it a profile of Sigmund Freud or
something a little more provocative?
 The picture can be viewed as either a profile of Sigmund Freud or
a naked woman. How you view it will depend on your background,
disposition, or state of mind.

The same is true with other aspects of our lives. Consider the issue
of medical problems. Did you know that the best indicator of medical
treatment isn’t a patient’s symptoms or background? It is the
background of the doctor. (Remember this the next time you go to visit
any type of specialist to remedy your aching back problem.)

Unlearning requires us to recognize, as Einstein said, that sometimes

“the way we see the problem is the problem.”
Describe the characteristics
you associate with the
single fish?
 If you are from a Western culture, you are likely to
have identified the single fish as “independent” or “a leader.” If
you are from an Eastern culture, you are likely to have labeled
the fish a “loner” or an “outcast.”

There is no right or wrong answer, but

unlearning requires us to see things in a
context different from our own.
 Look at the two dots in
the middle of each picture.
Which is bigger?
 The two dots are exactly the same size. The one on the
left only appears larger or smaller because of the
size of the surrounding dots.

In a recent scientific study, it was determined that a

person making $100,000 a year was more likely to be happy
if his surrounding neighbors made $75,000 than if he made
$100,000, but his neighbors made $150,000.

Unlike happiness, unlearning isn’t relative. It is about seeing

things as they really are - uninfluenced by the surrounding
environment.
Study this picture
of Albert Einstein.

Now step back

and view it from
10 feet away. Who
does it look like?
Did you also see Marilyn Monroe? Distance has a way
of changing perspective.

Is there someone in your life whom you might see

differently from a little distance?

To unlearn, try stepping back on occasion. It may help

you see people and situations in a new light.
 Grab a pen or a pencil.
Squeeze it as tightly as you
can for 60 seconds, then
slowly release the object.
It feels wonderful doesn’t it?
Now, consider what else in
your life you might be holding
onto too tightly. Perhaps it is
an old grudge, a prized
physical possession, an
unhealthy relationship, or
even an image of yourself.

Can you release it?

Unlearning is about letting go.

Count the number of F’s in the
following statement:

FINISHED FILES ARE THE RE-

SULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTIF-
IC STUDY COMBINED WITH
THE EXPERIENCE OF YEARS.
 Did you count three? If so, you’re not
alone, but the correct answer is six.

FINISHED FILES ARE THE RE-

SULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTIF-
IC STUDY COMBINED WITH
THE EXPERIENCE OF YEARS.

Many people miss the three F’s in the word “OF.”

What else might you be missing in your life?

Unlearning is about being aware of the complete picture.

 To the right is
one of the world’s
more recognizable
logos. Many of us
see it almost
every day. Study it
for a moment.
Notice anything?
 Have you ever noticed the
clever arrow hidden between
the “E” and the “X”?

The way forward is often right

in front of us but we
fail to see it.

Unlearning is, in part, about seeing

signs which may appear hidden but
are, in fact, in plain sight.
 Study the
card until you
can determine
what’s wrong
with it.
 On average, it takes a person about eight seconds to
recognize the spade is red instead of black.

People often think they will immediately recognize when the

rules of the game have changed. This isn’t always the case.

Unlearning isn’t always “in the cards,” but if the rules in

your business or industry have changed and you don’t realize
it, it could change your bottom line from black to red.
Review the following three quotes:

“Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible.”

“There is not the slightest indication that energy will ever be

obtainable from the atom.”

“I think there is a world market for

about five computers.”
 The three quotes are from Lord Kelvin, Albert Einstein and
Thomas Watson - all very bright and accomplished people.
They were also wrong.

What are the experts in your industry

telling you? Perhaps they are saying a
certain technology or product will never
work, or maybe that customers will never
want a specific feature.

Experts are bright and smart, but it is important to understand that

they don’t know everything, and they are especially poor at
recognizing what they don’t know.

Here is some expert advice that is worth taking to heart:

Unlearning requires you to realize that what you don’t know is
often more important than what you do know.
 Study this
illustration. Do you
notice a unique
characteristic?
 The illustration is an ambigram -
meaning it can be read the same way
from a different perspective. In this
case, the words “earth, air, fire, and
water” can also be read if the picture
is rotated 180 degrees.

An essential element of unlearning is

an appreciation of the idea that the
opposite can also be true.
Punctuate the following sentence:

A woman without her man is nothing.

 One way to punctuate the sentence is:

A woman, without her man, is nothing.

It could also be punctuated in this manner:

A woman: without her, man is nothing.

Neither statement approaches the complexity of male-female

relationships, but unlearning does require an appreciation of how
small changes can lead to radically different outcomes.
Study the picture. What do you see?
Viewed from one perspective, it is a bridge to the distant horizon.
From another perspective, it is a ship heading out to sea.

Marcel Proust once said, “The real voyage of discovery consists

not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.”

To unlearn, it helps to lose sight of the shore - especially

when you feel you’re on a bridge to nowhere.
 Which table is
longer - the one
on the right
or the left?
 Most people answer that the table on the left is
longer, but the correct answer might surprise you.
Both tables are the same size. (Go ahead and
measure the length and width of both tables.)

Unlearning demands that, every now and again,

you "table" even your most basic assumptions. Why?
Because if you don’t, you could come up "short.”
A single lily pad rests
on a pond on the first
day of June.
It is of such a size that if it doubles
every day for the
entire month, it will cover
the whole pond. On Day 20 of
this doubling exercise, what portion of
the lake will be covered with lily pads?
 The answer is a miniscule one-tenth of one
percent - 0.01%. What happens over the next
10 days is little short of amazing, as the entire
lake becomes covered with lily pads. This is the
power of exponential growth.

A number of technologies are doubling and

have been doubling for some time. Yet we fail
to appreciate how fast these technologies are
approaching because we underestimate the
power of exponential growth.

Are you properly covered in terms

of how trends in technology will
necessitate unlearning in the future?
Do you know what
an “anti-library” is?
 An “anti-library” is a collection of
books you haven’t read, and it should
grow ever larger over time. All too
often we become enamored with the
books we have read, and we proudly
display them on our shelves as a symbol
of our knowledge.

An anti-library serves the opposite purpose. The growing

collection of books we haven’t read should remind us of our
ignorance, keep us intellectually humble, feed our curiosity,
and continually remind us of our need to unlearn.
Does a rusted nail
weigh more or less
than the original
non-rusted nail?
 The nail becomes heavier when it rusts. This is
because the iron is attracting oxygen molecules and
converting the metal to iron oxide.

In this same way, we become “rusty” because we add

too many things to our existing plate. If you wish
to remain healthy, you must unlearn the idea that
adding more things always makes you stronger.
 Do you know how
circus trainers learn
to control elephants?
They begin by placing a heavy set of chains
around the elephants’ ankles. Over time, as
the elephants become more passive, they
replace the initial chains with lighter chains
until, eventually, they don’t require any.
At this point, the elephants could
break free but they don’t because
they have been conditioned
and remain complacent.

Are there "chains" which were placed around you as a child, a student or
early in your career, but now exist only in your mind?

Unlearning requires us to remove the mental chains that

still enslave our minds. This demands some heavy lifting but, done
correctly, it can be liberating.
Study the picture
of the frog for a
moment. Notice
anything?
 If you flip the image on its side,
it appears as a horse.

Problems can also be opportunities when

viewed from a different perspective. Is
there a frog in your life - perhaps in the
form of a difficult person at work or a
seemingly inextricable problem - that could
be turned into a prize-winning racehorse if
only turned slightly?

Unlearning doesn’t always require a change

of 180 degrees. Sometimes 90 degrees will
do the trick.
Which is more rare -
a total solar eclipse
or a sunset?

Which is more
beautiful?
The answer to the first part of the question is a solar eclipse.
The answer to the second part is more subjective, but many
people find a sunset more beautiful.

What is interesting is that, because the former is rare, many

people make it a point to observe solar eclipses while they
routinely ignore sunsets.

An important component of unlearning is dropping the illusion

that rare objects are more worthy of our attention than
commonplace things.

Are you paying attention to the right things in your life?

”The truth is rarely pure
and never simple.”
Is this quote from Oscar Wilde true or false?
 Like this illusion, many
things can be true and false
at the same time. (Turn the
card upside down.)

Unlearning requires standing

old truths - and falsehoods -
on their heads.
Trace the letter "E”
on your forehead.
 There are two ways to do this. You could either
trace the "E" so that you could see it from your
mind's eye, but it would appear backwards to those
viewing it, or you could trace it backwards so that
it would appear normal to other viewers.

There is no right or wrong way to do this,

but people who do it the first way have been
demonstrated to have more difficulty viewing
situations from other people’s perspective.

Is this a habit you need to unlearn?

 What
symbol is
next in this
sequence?
 Did you say a square? That may be right, but it is also possible
that a circle, triangle, trapezoid, rhomboid, or any number of other
symbols might also come next.

Humans are so good at detecting patterns that we often see them

where none exist.

If someone has succeeded or failed at two consecutive tasks, does it

naturally follow that the pattern will persist the third time?

Are you sure, or might you want to unlearn your operating

assumptions? The truth doesn’t always square with reality.
 The year after
Roger Bannister
broke the
4-minute mile
barrier, how many
other runners
accomplished
the feat?
 The answer is 16. What is surprising is that
before Bannister accomplished his feat, many
medical and track-and-field experts believed a
sub 4-minute mile was impossible.

Are there barriers in your life that

are worth unlearning?
 How many people
must be in a room
before there is a
50% chance that
any two people will
share the same
birthday?
 Many people respond by saying 183, which is half the
number of days in a non-leap year. The answer is 23.

This low number surprises many people, but it helps to

explain why seemingly rare events occur more frequently
than most people expect.

A good understanding of statistics and probability can

alleviate this misunderstanding, but until such time as that
occurs, it might behoove you to unlearn the idea that odd
things may not be that odd.
Are you more likely to be killed
by a shark or a deer?
While the odds of dying at the hands of either creature are
rare, you are 300 times more apt to die due to a deer (most
likely in a car accident) than by a shark attack.

A person is also more likely to die by suicide than

from a homicide; from tuberculosis than a flood;
and from asthma than in a tornado.

Graphic or memorable events cause people to think many

things are more common than they actually are.
To properly assess danger, it pays to unlearn.
 Take a look at
this picture.
Study the figure in
the center.
 It is easy to imagine it as either the letter "B" if
you read the pattern horizontally, or the number “13"
if you read it vertically.

The same thing can look much different depending upon

the filter a person uses. Have you ever wondered how
Republicans and Democrats can view the same event, but
come to radically different interpretations?

Unlearning isn’t as easy as "A-B-C," but if you

stay centered, you can come to a more
complete understanding of the situation.
 With a friend, neighbor or
colleague listening, tap out a
familiar song on a hard surface
using your knuckles. Don’t tell
them what the song is, but
instead ask them to guess
what it is.
To our surprise, the listener can’t often guess the song, even
though the tune is obvious in the mind of the tapper.

When people discuss a topic with which they are very familiar,
it is so clear in their mind that they assume it is just as
obvious to their audience. This isn’t necessarily true.

This trait is referred to as “the curse of knowledge”

and it is worth unlearning when you need to make a
message clear to an audience.
If you could fold
a piece of paper
50 times, how
thick, or high,
would it be after
the 50th fold?
 The answer is 62 million miles. It is a mathematical fact that a
regular piece of paper, if it could be folded 50 times, would reach
two-thirds of the way to the sun.

You may be saying “It’s impossible to fold a piece of

paper that many times” - and, of course, you’d be
right, but the number of transistors placed on a
computer circuit has doubled 40 times and is expected
to double at least another 10 times.

When the “impossible” becomes possible, paradigms shift and those

that can’t unlearn the past are relegated to it.
 Buy two bottles each of the same
variety of wine (e.g. Merlot, Pinot
Noir, Sauvignon Blanc, etc.). Make
sure one bottle is less than $10 and
the other is a more expensive brand.

Gather a group of friends and perform

a blind taste test with them.

What were the

results?
 Often, the less expensive wine performs just as
well, if not better, than the more expensive brand.

Unlearning the association between price and

quality can not only save you money, it can also
"double your pleasure."
In the game of tic-
tac-toe, how many
different ways could
a game be played?
How many winning
permutations are
there?
 It is not uncommon for people to guess 27 or 81. The answer is 362,880
or 9x8x7x6x5x4x3x2x1. (The number of winning permutations is 255,168.)

The high answer surprises many, and people often make the same
mistake when assessing the ease of predicting the future.

But if nine different forces, for example, technology, competition,

customers, employees, money, demographics, politics, regulatory issues,
and human behavior all play a role in your company’s future, what are
the chances the future will play out exactly as you expect? Unlikely.

Unlearning is like tic-tac-toe. It looks simple, but it can

play out in a surprisingly large number of ways.
Use the figure
to the right
to create
any illustration
you wish.
Did you think “outside the box”
(as the person who drew this
illustration did) or did you
confine yourself to the box?

If so, why?

Thinking “outside the box”

has become cliche, but it is
important to unlearn the idea
that you are confined to a box.