In an earlier article we looked at the different stages of learning we go through when learning a new skill. Here we will discuss how this relates to every day activities, and consider situations where it is not always ‘best’ to have all our skills at the fourth level of learning.

The fourth stage of learning (unconscious competence) is what most of us would call a habit. They are an extremely useful part of our lives - how tedious would it be to think about which way to tie your shoelaces every day? Surely there is a better way to express your creativity! Conversely there are areas of our lives we would like to consciously think about. Clearly there is a balance to be found between having skills we do subconsciously, and skills we carry out consciously.

At school, you learn that 4+4=8. This was probably learnt by repetition, so you automatically know when asked what does 4+4 equal, the correct answer is 8. But what about 3+5? Can that also equal 8, because we know that 8 is 4+4. If we learnt mathematics in this way, learning every possible combination of questions and answers, it would be pretty futile. It is far easier to learn the rules, and then apply these to the questions to reach the answers.

Once you know the rules, the next step is applying them correctly. If you have an ambition of 8, but you are constantly doing the sum 3+4, you are not going to get there. The choices we make given this result fall into three categories.
1: We keep doing the same thing (3+4), and keep missing our target (8). This leads to frustration.
2: We change what we are aiming for, and decide 7 would be an acceptable result. Coincidently what we are doing (3+4) equals 7, so we are now satisfied.
3: We start thinking ‘outside the box’, thinking creatively, and consider other ways of achieving our target (8). With a bit of trial and error, chances are we will reach our target.

Trial and Error could be rephrased as ACTION and ASSESSMENT. We take action, and then see what results that action has given, and if we are moving closer to our target, or further away from it. The action can then be adjusted and repeated accordingly.

The process of knowing which of the three methods you use to attack a problem can only be discovered by consciously thinking about what you are trying to achieve (the target outcome), and what actions you are taking to get there. This is where it is beneficial to step back to level three of learning, and double check if your habit is helping you, or not.