Facilitating Conscious Competence: Rethinking
by Eric K. Kaufman -- Do you recall learning how to drive a car? For most of us, we had experience as a passenger in a car for more than a decade before we were in the driver's seat. As a passenger, we were blissfully unaware of the complex challenges of safely navigating a vehicle through a busy intersection. It looked so easy, until we had to do it ourselves. Then, suddenly, we realized there was so much to learn and keep track of. And, there was an incentive to learn quickly, because we didn't want to harm anyone or anything and have to face the consequences. However, after years of driving, navigating a car through a busy intersection requires relatively little conscious thought. And, when I needed to teach my son how to drive, I had a hard time articulating all of the details involved. Why is that? The answer lies in the ladder of conscious competence . As noted in a one-page overview by Bright Morning , the conscious competence ladder operationalizes our under