Mindful Monday - 4 Key Levels of Competency

About This Talk

Chris walks through the four levels of competency everyone passes through when learning something new, from not knowing what we don’t know to doing something without thinking. He uses driving as the example: second nature now, but something we had to think hard about at 16. He asks listeners to remember that every new effort, large or small, follows the same path.

Key Ideas

• First you are unconsciously incompetent, not knowing that you don’t know; then consciously incompetent, aware of it and learning along the way.
• Next comes consciously competent, where you have some skill but still have to think and work at it, then unconsciously competent, pure muscle memory.
• Every new effort, large or small, moves through these levels, and once you reach the top and feel comfortable, it starts again with something new.

“We are consciously incompetent, like we kind of know that we don’t really know what we’re doing, but we’re learning along the way.”