FROM  UNCONSCIOUS INCOMPETENCE  TO

UNCONSCIOUS COMPETENCE
PULIN DUTTA

Most small boys, almost always, want to sit in the front seat of a car. He even thinks he can drive it. I am talking about boys, not girls, because more often than not girls do not intend to be good drivers. At times you see the little one making guttural, purring sounds as if he's really steering a car. He actually thinks he can drive like anybody else. What do you call this state of mind? One well-known management thinker termed it “ unconscious incompetence”. A state in which one knows not that one knows not. Rather a blissful state. Actually, many of us in management are in this state for a very long time. We may not realise that our ability to appreciate, imbibe, let alone learn, has already ceased to function long ago. The shutters of the mind's doors and windows are pulled down to the light outside. Or, Firewalls as the ITpeople say!
Then we possess nothing else but to manage with authority, power, policy, new techniques, fads, consultants and brute force and again we remain “unconscious” that we know not that we know not how to really manage. Does this sound familiar?

Take a hard look at yourself and answer honestly: When was the last time you learned something new and what did you do with the new knowledge? Doing more of the same is very inadequate to survive in this new economic age. Narayan Murthy often says this. The late Sumantra Ghosal admonished us, “ when you know you are in a ditch, then why are you still digging?” Now back to the small boy in the driver's seat. By the time the small boy reaches his teens, he begins to realise (if he is a thinking type) that after all driving is not just switching on the engine, pressing the accelerator and turning the steering wheel. A Dutch IT professional, who worked in Bangalore for a while, wrote to his mother that in Bangalore people don't drive. They just point their cars in a certain direction and let go! The rest is left to Him to take care of.

Driving competently (or well) requires a lot of application – another difficult thing to accept by many. The teenager realises that good driving requires internalised knowledge of what to do and what not to do. Not only for his own sake but for every one else inside and outside the car. Besides good road sense, driving well involves other finer knowledge, skills and temperament. Then, the young man reaches the second stage of “conscious incompetence”. Still incompetent as a good driver; but at least he is aware of it.

Currently the cricket pundits are talking a lot about how Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble evolved match after match by continually learning, applying and improving their art of playing competitive cricket. The same can be said about Amitabh Bachchan and Asha Bhosle over the past three decades – improving all the time, to remain at the top. They are all conscious of their limitations but are still exploring avenues to improve further with new knowledge and skills. What the four have in common is the attitude to keep on trying to do better. This is the result of attempts to cross the first major hurdle of  “unconscious incompetence” to “conscious incompetence”.

In my 40 years in industry, I have seen a number of managers developing in this way all the time and making serious efforts  at learning continually, just like the teenager taking his driving lessons seriously and making self-corrections to go beyond the aim of just getting a driving license.

 This is a long process and even after years of driving, the serious driver can feel he has to still hone his driving knowledge and skills. It is worth mentioning that most road casualties are caused by drivers with a license. Remember the telling line in James Bond films, “ 007 licence to kill?”

When further learning stops the problems begin. Otherwise, how do you explain the reappearance of the same old problems and solving them in the same old ways?

Fads like, productivity measurements, targets, cost reduction, downsizing, automation, restructuring, ISO 9000, Six Sigma and what not? You know the whole list, don't you? Did those 'flavour of the quarter' dosages and quick fixes eradicate the dreaded disease? No!
Antibiotics do not eradicate – they cure for a while, with side effects, until the next time.

Back to the young driver again. The continuous effort to acquire new knowledge and insights then raises the young driver to the state of “conscious competence”. Now, he is aware of the fact that he knows something, a bit more than before. Such additional and incremental knowledge cannot come only from within. It always must come from the outside and by invitation – meaning, by trying hard to get that knowledge by asking, learning from others or by observing others. For managers, this is a very time consuming and tough journey, collecting bits and pieces of information from many sources, converting it into knowledge and skills and applying it diligently, experimenting, sharing with others, taking feedback and using the feedback. Only through such rigour can new knowledge enter from the outside. Conscious competence in a manager will prod him to look at himself without pride or prejudice.

He will introspect meaningfully without putting up any defence. A difficult proposition, most will gree; but who said knowledge came easy? On the other hand, most managers  will take comfort in the fact that anyway there are not likely to be many Rohinton Agas, Russi Modys or Narayan Murthys, who continually reflected on their own premises and assumptions. He just doesn't make them anymore as the market demands new models and more and more MBAs instead! Now the teenager has grown into a good citizen, feeling responsible for his actions and demeanour with respect to himself and society. He drives with total commitment to the safety of self, the passengers and others on the road. He observes the rules of the road, extends courtesy to other drivers and keeps his road rage in check. All such qualities consciously cultivated over time will gradually take him to the ultimate state of mind and intellect – “unconscious competence”, as far as driving is concerned. That becomes his nature and obviously he is a role model for his children, colleagues and friends.

This is a long, arduous journey without an end. Continuous improvement is just that. It begins with the self. Only such managers make a real difference and lasting contribution to their organisations. I teach in MBA programmes and I am yet to see these ideas being discussed, explained and taught.

These are not marketable ideas – are they? I was very fortunate that once upon a time my enlightened employer sent me to a fourday Deming conference, overseas. There I was stunned to see the 92 years old Master,  terminally afflicted with cancer, unconsciously demonstrating most of what I have said above and in the process deeply influencing some of us.
Of course, he didn't draw a parallel with the young boys driving; but conveyed what we should recognise, learn and relearn and do almost naturally to lead business affairs in the near and distant future in the global village. The Master demonstrated very naturally (after taking a deep whiff from the oxygen cylinder attached to his wheelchair) his state of mind by saying, “I am here to learn and you can make a difference by allowing me to learn”. What a fine exposition of “unconscious competence” from the man, about whom the celebrated Prof. Yoshida once said, “ In Japan, Deming's name comes next to God's.”

Closer home, can we make a difference to our company, our people, by not giving up.  Don't we owe that pleasure to ourselves? I know there are Dravids, Kumbles, Bachchans, Bhosles (and Demings) amongst you, waiting to burst out and shine brilliantly as professionals and managers. We need you. Don't flee away to greener pastures, to find the easier way out. Don't just wait for instructions, you won't need them in the “unconscious competence” state.

In summary, the four stages can be remembered as:
1).Unconscious Incompetence
2). Conscious inompetence
3).Conscious competence
4).Unconscious competence