In a comment on yesterday's post on the tyranny of dead ideas, Ken Allen wonders how we identify the the dead ideas--that is, of all our beliefs, which ones are actually dead? I think that's a great question and one that got me thinking.

I agree with commenter Kate Riel that it starts with getting clear about the assumptions we make in regard to ourselves, our relationships, the organizations in which we operate, etc. Before we can decide which ideas are dead, we have to know the ideas we're working with in the first place. (Kate also wants to know how we create an environment where there are no "sacred cows. That's a good question for tomorrow).

I think that "Conventional wisdom" is an excellent source of assumptions we should be questioning. So is "everybody knows" and "we've always done it this way" kinds of statements. This may seem obvious, but my experience has been that we often don't look at the assumptions that underlie our actions, so it's probably a good idea to clarify those first.

Then comes the question of how to "recognize the decay from the living essence," as Ken so eloquently put it. Here I think we have to be looking at the actual evidence that lies in front of us.

For example, in another comment, Mary Williams suggests that the idea of "proprietary knowledge" is probably dead, since the "open" movements like open source, Open University, etc. and the rise of social media make it difficult (if not impossible) to keep information in walled gardens. We have only to look at what's happening to the music industry, newspapers, etc. to see that our long-held assumptions about the value of hoarding information are falling by the wayside. Those who keep trying to put the horse back in the barn rather than dealing with the changed reality are having the greatest difficulty adapting.

Another idea I think is dead is the one that says the "best" way to prepare  for a solid career future is to get a traditional 4-year college degree. Despite Charles Murray's recent NYT column asking if the Obama Generation should drop out that attempts to defy conventional wisdom on this topic,  the idea of a 4-year degree has a tight grip on most families looking to get ahead, so I suspect that this is one idea that isn't going to die anytime soon. 

I don't think that what keeps us from identifying "dead" ideas is a lack of evidence. I think it's more likely that  1) we don't question our most basic assumptions and 2) when we do, we tend to ignore the evidence in front of us that tells us our assumptions are no longer valid (assuming they ever were).

We are talking about death after all, and I  think that as with any death, we often move quickly into the denial phase.  And the death of an idea is easy to deny because there's no physicality to it like the closing of a building or the end of an event. No "body" makes it easy for us to continue believing that the ideas live on.

My belief is that usually the evidence for the death of an idea is right in front of us. But maybe I'm wrong. What say you, dear Readers?