Try to give a different perspective on how to complete a task to someone who is considered an expert in that field or has several years of experience in the given field and see what happens.  Two things could happen: 1. The more experienced person will be close minded to considering your thoughts and suggestions, because he/she may feel that they know more about the subject matter than you do; or, 2. The more experienced person will be open to trying a new way of achieving the same end result.  The latter is ideal.  We must keep in mind that we can learn something from anyone, from the expert to the novice.  Sometimes, we can get to a point in our careers that we become unteachable.  Everyone should keep in mind that there is Always something new to learn.  The information that we learn about back in the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s can be different from the information that we learn about today.  There is always more than one way to achieve the same end goal. We also have to consider that the novice has to be willing to listen to the expert as well, because the expert might have experienced things that the novice hasn’t and can help one to avoid making the same mistakes that he/she may have made along the way.  My stance is that we can ALL learn from each other, so both the expert and the novice has to be willing to listen to each other.  As the world and technology is ever evolving, we must be open to learning new things to keep up with what’s going on currently.  It is important to know that as much as we would like to think, we do Not know everything.  No one knows Everything.  Someone else will always know something that we do not know, based on their own life experiences and education that may be different from ours.  This is why it is important to be open to learning new and different ways of achieving the same goal.  Don’t be the unteachable.  Don’t look down on or put down those whom you think you know more than.  We can all learn from each other.  A homeless person can teach you how to be resourceful, as well as teach you how to avoid being homeless, based on their life experiences as to how they became homeless.  A wealthy person can teach you how to be a good steward of your money, as well as teach you how not to lose your wealth, based on their life experiences after losing money.  

Teaching the unteachable is challenging, because the unteachable means that the person is unreachable in that teachable moment.  Unteachable people are those who have a one-track mindset and are inflexible in their way of thinking. They usually think that they know everything and think that their way of doing things, is the best or only way. For example, have you ever tried to tell someone a different or new way of doing something and they shut your idea down and refuse to listen?  Well, this is how you know that the person is unteachable.  Please know that you can be an expert in your field, but that does not mean that you know All that there is to know about the field, nor does it mean that there is no new information for you to learn/acquire.  When we are open to feedback, it shows that we are wise and mature enough to know that the other person is not telling us that what we are doing is wrong; he/she is merely providing an alternative way to achieve the same end goal.  I cannot reiterate enough about the importance of knowing that Direction does Not mean Correction.  Therefore, instead of defending your position and why things should be done your way, we have to be open to actively listening to others; because you just might learn something that you didn’t already know.  Embrace learning new things, even if the information comes from someone you consider to have less experience than you.  You may be surprised at how much their way of thinking can help you think “outside-of-the-box.”  Think about the design of the first cellular phone and how the cellular phone has evolved since then.  If Martin Cooper, the inventor of the first cellular phone, was not open to learning new things, he could not compete in the marketplace today and would eventually become obsolete. It takes more than just one way of thinking to come up with new and innovative ways to achieve the same end goal.