Author and leadership speaker Terri Brady gives an example of learning a new song, in relation to the growth process. She’s a musician and loves to learn new music, across several different instruments. As is the case with most musicians, certain specific things about music stand out to her. She describes that when she first hears a song, it’s “just a song” – it’s fun to listen to but there’s nothing too special about it. After listening to the song a few times, she decides to order the sheet music. Once she begins learning the intricacies of the song, it becomes so much more than “just a song” – the rhythm, the pitches in harmony, the details of the notes and chords intertwining together to create a piece of art. It is more than a song. She practices it over and over again, thinks about it, studies it, and eventually, she can play it without even looking at the sheet music. It comes from her subconscious; she doesn’t even have to think about it again – it becomes “just a song” again.
This is a wonderful description about the process of growth. Her husband, Chris, came up with a more detailed description of what goes on in the growth process; it’s an idea that you and I can utilize to know where we have gaps and areas that we can grow in.
We all begin any area with UNCONSCIOUS INCOMPETENCE. We don’t know what we don’t know. There is no self-awareness in this area; we have no skills and we aren’t even aware that we need them.
Once we have a “wake up” moment, we see that there is much for us to learn – we move in to CONSCIOUS INCOMPETENCE. This process is normally pretty quick – it’s normally a moment where something in life wakes us up to the need for growth. We scream at our kids and realize that we need to grow as a parent. We spend days in bitterness towards our spouse, only to discover that we have gaps as a spouse. We hit a mental low point and suddenly we have an area where we can grow. This is likely the biggest key in the growth process, because until we discover that there is room to grow, we will not intentionally take the effort to grow.
Then the long process. Once we realize that we have room to grow, we take intentional focus towards getting better – we work toward CONSCIOUS COMPETENCE. In Terri Brady’s story, this is practicing the song, studying the song, thinking about the song. For you and I, this is practicing our new skill, studying the skill, thinking about our actions. This is where the most work is done in the growth process.
Finally once we practice, study, and consider for a long period of time, we achieve what Malcolm Gladwell would call “Mastery,” or as we will call UNCONSCIOUS COMPETENCE, where we can “play the song” without even thinking about it.
Let’s use the example of beginning a new job, say, in IT. If you have never worked in IT, you are Unconsciously Incompetent – you don’t know the skills. Once you begin the training, you discover how little you know and how much room you have to grow; you are now Consciously Incompetent. But this is a great thing, because now you begin to learn and grow! Over time, you learn new skills, you make mistakes, you study your new craft, you even begin to train other people. Once you spend enough intentional time to learn the new job, you will eventually become Consciously Competent – you can do your job well and even teach other people to do the same. Over time, and after lots of intentional action, you will eventually reach a state of Unconscious Competence where you barely need to even think about doing the basic activities of your job – it’s become habit.
Or let’s look at a new marriage. When a couple is preparing for the wedding day, they are Unconsciously Incompetent. They can study all they want, get all the advice and counseling that they can – and these things are absolutely wise. But on the way home from the ceremony, they wake up to the fact that they are Consciously Incompetent. Over the years, a (good) marriage is created by lots of reading, lots of listening, lots of counseling and mentoring. The couple is moving towards becoming Consciously Competent, where the husband knows what the wife enjoys and intentionally focuses on creating the best environment for her. The wife is aware what her husband needs and what he enjoys, and she focuses on creating a great marriage. Eventually they don’t have to give conscious effort to being kind or patient with each other; the husband doesn’t have to consciously think to respond in a soft tone and the wife doesn’t have to consciously think to enjoy her husband’s hobbies. They move into Unconscious Competence.
What does this mean for you?
If you would like to begin/continue the growth process into new areas of your life, a good goal would be to figure out which areas that you have the capability to grow in – what areas in your life do you “stink”? Many of us are stalled in our growth journeys for one of two big reasons: either we are honestly not aware what areas we can grow in, or (more common) we are aware of what areas we need to grow in but we have subconscious excuses and “reasons” why we cannot grow in that area (or why it’s everyone else’s fault that we’re not growing).
Recognize and where admit the gaps are – the areas where you need to grow. Give intentional practice and effort to get better. Find a coach or a mentor to help you maximize the growth process. Move from Unconscious Incompetence all the way to Unconscious Competence.
I’ve heard it said, “Figure out where you stink, then take a shower.” That would definitely be a shorter way to say it.
Just a thought…
Chris Craft
The Soapbox 