The Learning Process | 4 Stages of Competence

Summary

Vihan Chelliah explains the four stages of competence model, a framework for understanding how we learn and develop skills. The stages are: unconscious incompetence, where we lack awareness of what we need to learn; conscious incompetence, where we recognize our skill gaps and work to improve; conscious competence, where we consciously apply ourselves to tasks with some level of skill; and unconscious competence, where our skills become second nature, almost like muscle memory. Chelliah emphasizes the importance of patience and persistence through these stages, using his own experiences and referring to the Dunning-Kruger effect to highlight the fluctuations in confidence as skills improve. He encourages viewers to strive for conscious competence and offers insights on managing expectations during the learning process.

Highlights

• The first stage of learning is unconscious incompetence where you don't know what you need to learn. 🤔
• Conscious incompetence is when you realize the gaps in your knowledge and start addressing them. 🛠️
• In conscious competence, you perform tasks with skill by being mindful and deliberate. ⏳
• Unconscious competence is reached when your skills become second nature and effortless. 🌟
• The learning process often involves a fluctuating confidence level, as described by the Dunning-Kruger effect. 🎢

Key Takeaways

• Understanding the four stages of competence can enhance your learning process! 🤓
• The journey from novice to expert involves moving from not knowing what you don't know to mastering your skills. 🚀
• Patience and persistence are key in overcoming knowledge and skill gaps. 🗝️
• Aim for conscious competence by staying consistent and determined in your efforts. 🎯
• Teaching others can further reinforce your own learning journey! 👩‍🏫

Overview

In the video, Vihan Chelliah breaks down the learning journey into four essential stages: unconscious incompetence, conscious incompetence, conscious competence, and unconscious competence. Each of these stages illustrates different levels of awareness and skill mastery, providing a roadmap for anyone looking to develop new abilities.

The journey starts with unconscious incompetence, where one is unaware of their own deficits. With time and effort, you move to conscious incompetence, where you become aware of what you need to learn. This stage is crucial for identifying gaps and pushing through challenges. As you progress, you reach conscious competence, where you start applying skills with focus and commitment.

Ultimately, the goal is to achieve unconscious competence, where your skills become deeply ingrained. Throughout this process, understanding the ebbs and flows of confidence can be invaluable. Vihan highlights that while the path to mastery isn't always smooth, staying committed and managing expectations are key to succeeding in any learning endeavor.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction to the Learning Process The chapter "Introduction to the Learning Process" explores the seemingly straightforward journey of acquiring new skills or knowledge. Initially, individuals may not be skilled, but through continuous effort, their competence increases. The chapter introduces the four stages of competence model developed in the 1970s, which explains the progression of awareness and ability in learning.
• 00:30 - 01:00: Stage 1: Unconscious Incompetence The chapter discusses the concept of 'Unconscious Incompetence,' which is the first stage of learning something new. At this stage, individuals are unaware of what they don’t know and are unsure of what they need to learn or improve. This can be a dangerous phase because one cannot identify areas that need work. To progress past this stage, it's essential to recognize and accept that there are many unknowns, and with time and patience, improvement and advancement to the next stage is possible.
• 01:00 - 01:30: Stage 2: Conscious Incompetence In this stage, individuals become aware of their own incompetence, realizing the areas they need to improve. Recognizing gaps in knowledge or skills is essential for development. Making mistakes is encouraged as it's part of the learning process. It's also common to experience a drop in confidence upon discovering how much is yet to be learned. This stage presents a choice: to continue working on closing the skill gap or to accept it as it is.
• 01:30 - 02:00: Stage 3: Conscious Competence The chapter "Stage 3: Conscious Competence" discusses the stage in learning where individuals have acquired a great deal of skills and knowledge necessary to perform well in their roles. However, since these competencies do not yet come naturally, individuals must remain conscious and deliberate in their efforts. The key is to maintain determination and consistency in learning to fully assimilate and internalize these skills.
• 02:00 - 02:30: Stage 4: Unconscious Competence Stage 4: Unconscious Competence is the phase where the skills you've diligently practiced become second nature, akin to muscle memory. At this point, your confidence soars, and you're capable of instructing others, helping them reach your level. Having recognized the hard work required to achieve this stage, you can effectively empathize with those you teach, relating to the challenges they face. This stage also ties into understanding cognitive biases such as the Dunning-Kruger effect.
• 02:30 - 03:00: The Dunning-Kruger Effect The chapter explores the Dunning-Kruger Effect, a psychological concept describing the pattern of our confidence levels as we gain skills. Initially, confidence is high despite low ability, drops significantly as we realize our limitations, and eventually rises as we achieve true competence. The discussion emphasizes the importance of managing self-expectations through this learning process. The author alludes to additional content about the Dunning-Kruger Effect available via links and cards. The chapter concludes by acknowledging common reactions to setbacks caused by our lack of readiness, such as frustration or disappointment.
• 03:00 - 04:00: Framework for Learning and Conclusion The chapter introduces the 'Four Stages of Competence' as an effective framework for understanding and bridging gaps in one's knowledge. It suggests that though one may start with limited knowledge (unconscious incompetence), with continuous effort, they can reach the conscious competence stage. The author emphasizes the importance of reaching this stage for ease and consistency in proficiency. The author personally applies this framework to various endeavors including their YouTube channel, encouraging viewers to support by liking and subscribing.

The Learning Process | 4 Stages of Competence Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 building new skills or learning things can generally seem like a straightforward process for the most part you start off by not being very good at that thing and then over time you keep working at it and your competence grows at face value this might be how you think about it but some theories have explained that our knowledge and skills go through a few levels of awareness and ability this is something that can be easily understood by using the four stages of competence model that was developed in the 1970s as a reminder don't forget to like this video and subscribe to the channel for more videos from me every single week
• 00:30 - 01:00 now let's get right to it so the first stage is called unconscious incompetence whenever you embark on something new simply put you don't know what you don't know you aren't even sure what you need to be learning or what areas you might be falling short as you can imagine this can end up being quite dangerous because you aren't even able to identify what you'd need to work on the first step to moving out of this level is realizing and acknowledging that there are likely many things that you do not know and that with time and patience you'll be able to move on to the next stage and
• 01:00 - 01:30 that next stage is conscious incompetence the difference here is that you now know that you need to work on certain areas but you've also identified gaps in knowledge or skills that you could develop it's crucial to keep making mistakes at this stage only so that you can keep learning from them and getting better it's possible that you may even lose some of that confidence that you initially had because you're starting to see how much you don't know at this point you might also realize that you can make a choice about whether to continue bridging the gap on your skills or to accept that gap altogether
• 01:30 - 02:00 and live with it i have a feeling that you'll pick the former and if you do you'll move on to the next stage this next stage is a crucial one that is known as conscious competence once you're here you've pretty much gathered a lot of the skills and knowledge you need in order to do a good job however you're still learning a whole lot your competence doesn't really come naturally to you hence you have to be truly conscious of the effort that you're putting in you want to maintain a degree of determination and consistency in your learning to help it all come to you a
• 02:00 - 02:30 little bit more naturally over time you will finally move on to the last stage which is unconscious competence by this point you've put in so much time and effort that the skills are embedded in your dna and works like muscle memory your confidence also rises through the roof and for good reason you're likely even able to teach what you know to others so that they may be able to get up to your level one day what's even better is that you understood the effort that it took to get to this stage so it'll make you better equipped to empathize with those that you may be teaching the dunning-kruger effect is a
• 02:30 - 03:00 psychological concept that illustrates how our confidence rises falls and rises again as we increase our skills this just goes to show how becoming great at something does take time but managing our expectations of ourselves throughout that process can almost become just as important if you'd like to check out the video that i made on the dunn and kruger effect i'll leave a card up top and a link in the description as well you know when things don't go our way due to a lack of presentability on our part we tend to get frustrated or overly disappointed
• 03:00 - 03:30 but these four stages of competence serve as a great framework to realize that there are often gaps in our knowledge to start off with but over time we can put in the work to become proficient at it my goal with most things is to do what i can to get to the conscious competence stage because once i'm there then i know that i just need to keep practicing or continue being consistent and then things will get a whole lot easier from there kind of like what i'm doing with this youtube channel so if you want to support my work definitely consider liking this video and subscribing to the channel and hit
• 03:30 - 04:00 that notification bell so you never miss out on any of my new videos thanks for watching see you next time