Becoming
Unconsciously Competent
“I did then, what I knew how to do. Now that I know better, I do better.” One
of the famous Maya Angelou quotes
that resonates loudly with many especially me.
To grow and develop as we engage in new experiences and adventures, it’s
a natural part of life. Learn, think,
act, do….simple enough. However,
how often do we actively learn and how often do
we actively think, to truly be effective and make an impact in the way we act
and do? This type of behaviour requires
an awareness that with a little effort, can become a habit to help us
consciously grow every day.
A model that speaks to
how we grow is called ‘The 4 stages of Competence’. Created by Noel Burch of the Gordon Training
Institute, The 4 stages of Competence, also known as the 4 stages of Learning
Any New Skill, is a powerful tool in how to actively learn. Dr. Thomas Gordon, a three time Nobel Peace
Prize nominee, and the founder of the Gordon Training Institute, was an
American Clinical Psychologist who taught conflict resolution and communication
skills to parents, teachers, leaders and youth around the world. Dr. Gordon’s training and life work has been
directed towards helping facilitate active learning within many organizations
and for many individuals.
A close to home example
of The 4 stages of Competence, would be in the developmental peer-to-peer
organization, Toastmasters. Allow me to
demonstrate.
As a speaker, we come
up to the stage to do our first speech, we have practiced and we have truly
done our best. You have the audience laughing
and you know they enjoyed your speech. The feedback comes in and within all
those ‘glow’ points*, you see a ‘grow’** suggestion that tells you something
small about your behaviour which you had never even thought about in your
entire life. Prior to this, you were ‘Unconsciously
Incompetent’. You don’t know
what you don’t know…and that’s okay. The feedback: you tend to fidget with your fingers when speaking which
may distract your audience from the speech.
At this stage of Unconscious Incompetence, you were not aware of the
finger fidgeting and you simply did your best with what you knew. By getting the feedback that you were
fidgeting, you became aware and entered into the next stage.
You go home, digest
this and start to rehearse in front of the mirror on how you can keep your
finger fidgeting to a minimum.
The time comes for your
second speech and you are that much more prepared and excited. As you are 2 minutes into your speech, you
feel the sensation of your fingers touching each other and you slightly panic,
but you immediately put your hands to your side. During the rest of this speech, they want to
come together but you consciously keep them apart. You are congratulated during the evaluations
on keeping your finger fidgeting to a minimum.
You caught yourself making this mistake, you were ‘Consciously
Incompetent’.
In your third speech, you
know your content so well and you have conditioned your body especially those
fidgety fingers to keep still. With full
awareness and mental strength, you were able to keep those fingers down. You were ‘Consciously Competent’.
That fourth speech, you
didn’t think once about those fingers fidgeting at all, they were well behaved
throughout that presentation and you were ready for the next piece of feedback. You, my friend, have become ‘Unconsciously
Competent’.
This is how the 4
stages of Competence flows.
This model can be
applied to the way we address others, the way we treat ourselves, the way we
tackle our goals. The 4 stages of
Competence has allowed me to realise that the opportunities to improve are
ubiquitous in nature, they are ongoing and can span over many areas of life,
-family, career, finance, health and personal .
It also makes realise that it is important to be patient with ourselves
(and others) and prioritise where we can actively grow.
To accelerate this
growth of self in any of these areas, a tool that can been used and which I can
strongly testify to, is a journal.
Journaling is the act
of writing down one's thoughts and feelings to gain clarity, problem solve and
work through the issues at hand. Among
the many self-help and wellness advocates out there for journaling, psychology
experts like Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung have all used writing as a means to
develop their own theories and gain personal insights.
Leveraging a journal
helps nurture mental strength and allows one to process feedback actively thus
moving them from the stage of ‘Conscious Incompetence’ to ‘Conscious Competence’.
And with the intention
of growth for greater impact in our lives, being conscious of the 4 stages of
Competence may just help us fail forward, accept that change is inevitable, and
embrace humility as we see ourselves and others progressing through the journey towards becoming
Unconsciously Competent. If we know
better….we can do better.
Thank you.
*Glow
Point—Positive feedback point used in Toastmasters
**Grow Point –Constructive feedback
point used in Toastmasters
My second speech given at First Class Toastmasters, April 24th-2018
