The four levels of learning

There are four levels of learning. I’ve learned this from American author and speaker Krish Dunham when he came over to our country a couple of years ago.

Krish says the four levels of learning are:

1. Unconscious competence - We don’t know a skill, and even if we did, we will not be able to perform it. Like a three-month old baby tying shoelaces. She doesn’t know about it, and even if she did, she wouldn’t be able to do it.

2. Conscious incompetence – We are aware of the skill, but we are incompetent to perform it. Perhaps we have not practiced it yet.

3. Conscious competence – We actually have to consciously think about it while we are doing the skill. It’s a good level.

4. Unconscious competence – We have the skill set that we can automatically activate to be able to perform the skill.

When you observe, and then you absorb, and then you apply what you have learned, and you keep on applying it, you reach level four – the Unconscious Competence. It’s like driving a car or riding a bike - you are so competent at what you do, you can do it “un-consciously” or unmindfully.

I have seen speakers at this level. You ask them a question, and it doesn’t take them long to give a profound answer. Usually the answer is brief, but it addresses the point of inquiry. When a speaker drags on and on, chances are, he or she may not be competent in the area of the inquiry. He or she cannot be spontaneous. Spontaneity is a product of conditioned reflex. Spontaneity does not occur by accident. You need a lot of preparation in order to be spontaneous.

And the preparation entails a lifetime habit of learning, unlearning and relearning.

Forget the 21-day habit. I’ve heard younger and more naive speakers echo popular motivational speakers in saying that all you need is do something continuously for 21 days to form a habit and assimilate it in your life. Thing is, what takes you years to build as a habit cannot be unmade in 21 days. 21 days is a short cut, and there is no short cut to success.

ZigZiglar says, “To lose weight, I tried those 30-day diet plans. It worked! I lost 30 days!”

It is true however that you cannot remove a bad habit without replacing it with a new and a good one. You do the good habit continuously for at least one year, and it becomes a part of you. This is how habit is formed.

Ask the trainers in fitness gyms. They will talk to you about the nine-month resistance period. If you go to the gym regularly for nine months, exercise will become so much a part of you that you will actually feel bad about skipping a session. But enrollment drops before most people hit the 6th month.

Do not stop at being just motivated. Without a fixed goal or direction, your overly-motivated self would plunge into erroneous decisions one after the other.

You observe and then you absorb. Take in the details, and make every byte of information count.

An old Wild West fort is about to be attacked. The wily old general sends for his trusty Indian scout. “You must use all your thirty years’ worth of skill in trying to estimate the sort of army we are up against here.”

The reliable and experienced Indian scout lies down and puts his ear to the ground. “Enemy large war party,” he says, “maybe three hundred braves, four chiefs - two on black stallions, two on white stallions. All have war paint. Many, many guns. Medicine man also with them.”

“Good grief!” exclaims the general. “You can tell all of that just by listening to the ground?”

“No,” replies the Indian, “I can see under the gate.”

Take in the details. Observe. Absorb. No shortcuts.

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