PERREAULT Magazine October 2014 | Page 42

GLOBAL FUTURIST

School of Unlearning - Lesson #3

Become Uncomfortable in Your Own Skin

Jack Uldrich is an acclaimed global futurist, compelling keynote speaker and best-selling author. His past works include, The Next Big Thing is Really Small: How Nanotechnology Will Change the Future of Your Business; Jump the Curve: 50 Strategies to Help You Company Stay Ahead of Emerging Technology; Unlearning 101:101 Lessons in Thinking Inside-Out the Box, and, most recently, Higher Unlearning: 39 Post-Requisite Lessons for Achieving a Successful Future. He is the founder and “Chief Unlearning Officer” of The School of Unlearning— an international consultancy designed to help organizations succeed tomorrow by unlearning today.

JACK ULDRICH

“If they give you ruled paper, write the other way.”

– Juan Ramon Jimenez, 1956 Nobel Prize winner for literature.

Question #3: Take a look at the picture to the right. What do you see?Do you see an older woman or a younger woman? Most people see one or the other but with some effort you can train your brain to see both images. In many ways, the journey of unlearning is comparable. This is to say unlearning provides a different perspective on learning but you must train your mind to view it as an equally legitimate educational outcome.

As with many journeys, it helps to begin small. To get started, it may first be beneficial for you to become uncomfortable in your own skin. One effective strategy to remind you of the importance of unlearning is to develop a modest, easy-to-implement, unlearning habit. In my case, whenever I think I may be in need of unlearning, I fold my hands the opposite way.

To demonstrate, clasp your hands as if you were in prayer. There are only two ways to do this. people consistently do it only one way.

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