Developing competence

Doing it Right

Developing competence is a four phased process worth bearing in mind when you are developing the skills and competence of people, this useful model is worth thinking about.

Unconscious incompetence The individual neither understands or knows how to do something.

Put simply they don't know they are doing something wrong or that there is a better way.

They are unlikely to recognise the deficit or have a desire to address it because they don't see it as a problem.

Conscious incompetence Though the individual does not understand or know how to do something, they recognise the deficit but will not have addressed it.

You are likely to notice a reaction in skills training here, when someone has taken on a learning point, tried to put into practice, and haven't managed it.

This model is really useful here, because if you explain it well and in time, it helps people to stop beating themselves up.

Conscious competence The individual understands or knows how to do something.

However, demonstrating the skill or knowledge requires a great deal of consciousness or concentration.

This is a point that you want to get to on a training course.

However, because it requires repetition and concentration to move to the last phase, you will need to build in support and follow up to get lasting results.

Unconscious competence The individual has had so much practise with a skill that it becomes "second nature" and can be performed easily (often without concentrating too deeply).

He or she can also teach it to others. In fact a great way of internalising a skill is to teach other people.

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