… competence and disclosure (Part 1)

This post was inspired by a comment that Chris Miller made on my post about non-routine risk. I had used the term ‘unconscious competence’ to describe a mode of risk management that we all practice – dealing with risks such as crossing the road and the like. Things that we can do competently without having to think about it.

Chris commented that she has certainly seen this in the work of a BCM client she is currently working with. That is great, as the term was borrowed from a model of learning and development – it describes the state we would all like our to achieve in order to be resilient.

The model is used to describe the state of learning and progressing in our mastery of a skill. Wikipedia describes it as the Four Stages of Competence. The model is often depicted in different ways, as a hierarchy or ladder, highlighting that it is a model of progression to higher levels of achievement. Personally I prefer to use the 2×2 matrix version in the graphic.

The idea is that you start in quadrant 1 and progress to quadrant 4.

1. Unconscious Incompetence – where you are blissfully ignorant of your own incompetence.
   • Important point to remember about this stage is that you have have no idea that you are incompetent, nor have any desire to address this issue.
   • From the BCM perspective this stage applies even if you have heard of the discipline but you do not realise (yet) that it is a capability you need.
   • When you identify that you need to learn/develop you move to the next level.
2. Conscious Incompetence
   • You know you need to learn but you still cannot do it
   • In this stage there is often a fall-off of motivation when you try and fail – like falling off your bike the first time you learn to ride.
   • Again in the professional space, when we find how much resource needs to be committed to really make this work there can be a related drop in commitment.
   • Those who are motivated will practice and develop these skills/capabilities.
3. Conscious Competence
   • You can do it, but you really have to concentrate on it.
   • You still fall off your bike at times- but at least you are pushing the envelope a bit.
   • In BCM it may look something like this;
     • we can pass a test with enough notice to prepare
     • we can achieve any recovery that matches exactly what the plan says we should do
   • To get to the next level you continue to practice and gain experience until you internalize the skill and it becomes automatic.
4. Unconscious Competence
   • Eureka – you have made it!
   • But don’t stop practicing the first time you get it right.
   • Not everybody will aspire to be here with BCM, but I maintain that the adaptive attribute of resilience would mandate this level of crisis/incident management.
   • The beauty of operating at this level – nobody really reads the plans anyway, they don’t need to.
     • Here is an interesting point (hint).
       • Many (most) ‘C’ level Executives are already at this point as Managers/Executives.
       • They do not need a plan to tell them how to manage, they need to practice and refine their instincts in non-routine situations.
       • They are unlikely to support or attend “plan walk-through” style exercises – nor should you expect it.

So, why do I display the model as a matrix – simply because when it comes to the application to personal and organisational resilience I am concerned not only at the way we progress (always 1-2-3-4 above, there are no shortcuts) but also how we may REGRESS. My point is that you can regress from 4-1 or to any adjacent quadrant.

How can that be? In the context of resilience (and continuity of your business) the skills and capabilities you need may change. If you do not not realise that your environment or value-chain has shifted, then you do not know about a new skill you need to learn and master. You are back at Unconscious Incompetence.

There are more dangerous ways to regress – perhaps you took the view that BCM was a compliance activity and completed a series of ‘tick box’ efforts. You think, or are told by others, that you have the capacity to recover. Too bad you discover after the incident happens it was all smoke – and you find yourself very conscious of your own incompetence at recovery.

More on the disclosure aspect in the next post.

What other issues can you suggest that would change our consciousness and/or our competence?