About a year ago, I learned of the 4 Stages of Competence from a friend and business associate. This model has really helped me gauge and measure myself when learning new skills. According to the model, you move from unconscious incompetence to unconscious competence.
Here are the four stages:
1. Unconscious incompetence - The individual neither understands nor knows how to do something, nor recognizes the deficit, nor has a desire to address it. In short, you don’t know what you don’t know.
2. Conscious incompetence - Though the individual does not understand or know how to do something, he or she does recognize the deficit, without yet addressing it. This is the stage where you know what you don’t know.
3. Conscious competence - The individual understands or knows how to do something. However, demonstrating the skill or knowledge requires a great deal of consciousness or concentration. You know how to do it, but you have to think your way through it.
4. Unconscious competence - The individual has had so much practice with a skill that it becomes “second nature” and can be performed easily (often without concentrating too deeply). This is the stage where you can do it without thinking. You just know what to do.
A good example of this is learning how to drive. When you first learn how to drive a manual stick shift, you very quickly learn that you don’t know how to do it (conscious incompetence). As you practice you can start to think your way through it (the conscious competence stage). As driving the stick shift becomes a habit for you, eventually you can drive without thinking, shifting gears effortlessly while you think about other things (unconscious competence.)
Another example I like is when I first learned how to type. My mom taught me from scratch and I remember practicing her method countless times. I built unconscious competence soon after and I could type pretty quick as a result. Today my skill to type quick really helps me a great deal and saves a lot of time.
Question: What skills have you learned where you applied the 4 stages of competence model?
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Hmmm, what an interesting perspective on learning! When I think about it, it seems to apply to many “mechanical” type skills, yet I suppose we learn basic math much the same way, simple multiplication, addition, division, and so forth. What really intrigues me is how this learning style may actually begin then reinforce bad habits, things that become habitual and sort of automatic, that we wish we didn’t do. Great post, and really thought-provking!
Cheers,
Miche
.-= Miche | Serenity Hacker´s last blog ..True Success: Finding Your Perfect Wave =-.
Indeed this kind of learning does lead to habit formation, I guess we just have to be careful NOT to apply it to reinforce bad habits or behaviour.
.-= Jody´s last blog ..7 Questions to Ask About 2009 =-.
Hey Jody, I think we could apply this process to life itself. First, we become aware of the possibility of growth. Then we gain the knowledge required, and take action on what we’ve learned. Finally, we get comfortable with the upgrade only to repeat the process over and over again. Life is a cumulative experience and your 4 stages accurately describe the process.
.-= Jonathan – Advanced Life Skills´s last blog ..Optimism and the Spirit of Renewal =-.
Jonathan, I really appreciate your comment and I totally agree and concur with everything you said. Especially the fact that “life is a cumulative experience”…so true!
The most terrifying thing in the world is to finish this progression in one area and begin to focus on it in another.
I’ve just had to make that plunge back into the cold water. I’m trying to learn a new skill (programming) and at this point I don’t even know what I don’t know. But, with constant effort, I know I can learn those things, and eventually they will be second nature. But getting outside of my comfort zone is hard.
.-= Dave Croushore´s last blog ..30 Day Challenge: January 2010 =-.
Dave – Goodluck! You’re in the the right direction by getting out of your comfort zone…it’s never easy but the rewards will be great.
.-= Jody Fransch´s last blog ..7 Questions to Ask About 2009 =-.
That’s right Jonathan we can apply this concept to life. Much of our days routines is runs by Unconscious, Programming the habits and goal in to the mind can only works through this means… here’s a fun new way to look at the unconscious mind and programming it http://www.mpdspace.com/blog/humor/foreplay-the-key-to-sexy-goal-setting/
For me, typing is also a great example of this. I couldn’t type well until in my early years at High School. Around age 12 I remember being aware that I could improve my typing, so I started following a learn-how-to-type course on my home computer. Now I type quickly & without thinking, mostly using that method.
I would agree with the previous commentator – unconscious competence can in a way be called habit. That’s basically what habits are – we do them automatically without thinking about them. Great post, Jody!
.-= Lana – DreamFollowers Blog´s last blog ..My 2010 Goals and 2 Awesome Techniques I Used to Set Them. =-.
Lana – Unconscious competence is indeed habits!
.-= Jody Fransch´s last blog ..7 Questions to Ask About 2009 =-.
I’ve always loved this model of competence and I think there are many things where I’m at stage 4. It’s not to be confused with mastery though because I think that involves going back to stage 3 and repeating the processes.
I’d say I’m in stage 4 for badminton, driving, typing, walking, running, ironing, speed reading, among many other things.
.-= Amit Sodha – The Power Of Choice´s last blog ..Why It’s Pointless Going To University To Get A Degree =-.
Great post. A great way to think of learning!
Thanks Mello! It is a fantastic way to approach learning a new skill.
.-= Jody´s last blog ..7 Questions to Ask About 2009 =-.
I am so glad I stopped by! I heard about this a long time ago and could never find it again – I really believe this happens to our brains and this is how we learn and grow. Thank you!
Hi Jody and Steve. I know I’ve run across this before, I just can’t remember where. It’s great stuff. Thanks for sharing it!
.-= Stephen – Rat Race Trap´s last blog ..Unconscious Decision Making =-.
Hi Jody and Steve, I think this is may just be an innate learning process that applies to living. It seems a pretty natural progression. I can’t think of any exact incidents where I went through this, however it sounds VERY familiar to me in terms of my own life and how I awaken or learn. Yes, I think at times we may skip over a step or even two here, but overall I think this is how we unfold when we become aware. It was fascinating to see it so well laid out here. Good job.
.-= Robin Easton´s last blog ..What Are You Waiting For…Perfection? =-.
Thanks for the kind words Robin. What a huge difference it makes when we become conscious of this learning process and apply it to various aspects of our lives.
.-= Jody´s last blog ..7 Questions to Ask About 2009 =-.
The four stages seem to apply more to skills and provide a fascinating paradigm. I have been thinking of where it applies in my life, learning to type as an adult was exactly this process, learning to drive a stickshift car also. Thinking now about setting up a wordpress blog. I followed the four stages exactly from “what’s a blog” to “give me your domain name and cpanel info and I will set it up for you while watching tv.” Not sure that it applies to blog contents – still stuck at stage 3 there!
This post was really unique and right on point. I think the scary place to be is in a position of conscious incompetence. However, it beats being blind to your own ignorance.
.-= Nea | Self Improvement Saga´s last blog ..Peer Pressure and Conformity: Do You Fear Standing Out from the Crowd? =-.
Yep, this is true. I like to say that often, the land that you seek lies in the new. And the definition of new, to any of us, is what we don’t know that we don’t know that we don’t know. Unconscious incompetence!
A very useful model Steve that any educator (learning is changing) should have in their mind. Readers might also know of the ideas of Lev Vygotsky in relation to this idea. He talks about the ‘zone of proximal development’ which means that we need to have something within our reach or capability to move towards as a step in the direction towards our goal. Too big a ‘chasm’ and we can’t make the transition. Invariably we need a guide at the point/moment of transition to help us to the next stage of our development.
.-= Paul Johnston´s last blog ..Who Has Time For Social Media? =-.
thanks for sharing Paul! I would like to read more on Lev Vygotsky and the “zone of proximal development”.
.-= Jody´s last blog ..7 Questions to Ask About 2009 =-.