Am I unconsciously competent? Let's hope so!

Just one other quick shout out about The Ultimate Training Workshop Handbook readings for this week. Another thing that jumped out at me in these readings was an idea that I have heard of before  - The Stairway to Proficiency.

I remember I first heard of this idea in my Comm 221 Interpersonal Communication class back when I was in my undergraduate days. Something must have struck me about the idea though because it stayed with me all this time in the back of my mind until I read it again in this book earlier this evening. The idea is simple and includes four steps:

1. Unconscious incompetence - You don't know it, but you are not doing something well.
2. Conscious incompetence - You become aware that you are not doing well.
3. Conscious competence - You become aware that you are doing better.
4. Unconscious competence - You become so good that you are unaware of trying to be good.

I think the reason this resonates with me is that it can apply to pretty much everything that we do or learn. I think about it a lot when I am striving to improve a skill and am usually in the conscious competence stage. I never really pay attention when I get to the final stage but I suppose that is the point really.

One area I have worked to improve and am now consciously competent in is giving positive feedback to my students. It's a tip I picked up from Train Smart earlier in the semester and I have been trying to positively acknowledge every student who does something in one of my classes - answers a question, gives feedback etc. At first I suppose I was unconsciously incompetent since I didn't give that feedback as often and I didn't know that was a problem. Then after reading the tip in Train Smart I decided to incorporate it and kept realizing that I had forgotten to give the feedback. Now I notice that I am getting better and giving the positive feedback more instinctively. I won't really pinpoint when I move into that final stage but when I stop thinking about it and it becomes a good teaching habit then I will be unconsciously competent.