Jack of all trades, master of none…is often times better than a master of one - Geffray Mynshul
In response to my last article on why masters are frauds, a reader replied with an email and asked me a simple, but profound question: A Mckinsey Academy's course I'm currently taking plots a skill-growth graph to include this quadrant (unconsciously unskilled - consciously unskilled - consciously skilled- unconsciously skilled). Lots of work in there as you move through the stages, the question being, at what level do you become this master here?
While I have since sent him a response (yes, I respond to every reader that comments or sends me an email), his question got me thinking, so I decided to write this piece to hopefully, explain a bit more about mastery.
But before that, a diversion.
I thought it’ll be wise to explain why I think mastery is important and why I talk so much about it. We live in an instant-gratification generation, where distractions abound, and true masters are rare. Very few people have the discipline and strength of will to commit themselves to a craft, a skill, or a profession, and hone their skill for the sole purpose of seeing the best they can be. And that’s sad.
I’m a Manchester United fan (GGMU 😎), and for the past few days, after the announcement of the signing of Christiano Ronaldo, social media has been agog with the various exploits of the “unstoppable” Ronaldo seems to create effortlessly. At 36, he’s breaking records and does not seem to be slowing down. Remember, this is the true mark of a master - the ability to create exceptional results consistently and seemingly effortlessly.
Had he been contented at any point in his career and said “I’m good enough”, we would not be blessed with the beautiful spectacle of what he can do on the ball. And this is why I’m passionate about gaining mastery.
We do not know just how much we can create and discover if we focus and develop mastery in our chosen field. Locked up in you, is the solution to many of humanity’s problems, and if only you could focus long enough to gain mastery, you could change the world for the better.
Alright, back to the topic. The final level of mastery is called unconscious competence. It is at this level that you create masterpieces seemingly effortlessly, and the world itself stands up to bow to your awesome magnificence.
But how do you get there?
I call this path: The journey of mastery, and it’s broken down into four:
Unconscious incompetence
Conscious incompetence
Conscious competence
Unconscious competence
I’ll explain each stage below.
Unconscious incompetence - You don’t know that you don’t know.
This is the first and most base level. This is where your journey starts. Unconscious incompetence means that you don’t know just how ignorant you are. Every master once started at this level, completely unaware of just how much knowledge they do not have access to. The pitfall of this stage is what I call “the fools’ pride”. Here, a man not knowing how ignorant he is in a particular field expresses with complete confidence his self-appointed expertise and refuses to learn.
This man is the worst kind, as he would not learn, neither will allow any competent teacher to impart him with knowledge. Thus, the first rule of mastery is to continually admit, that you do not know enough about the field you seek to become a master in.
Conscious incompetence - You know you don’t know
This stage is where you finally admit that you have a lot to learn, but you are willing to learn it. This is where the journey to true mastery begins. Here, you take on the posture of a student and submit yourself to learn what those who have gone before you have to say. The secret of this stage, is to devote yourself wholly to the field in which you seek expertise. I am fond of saying that everyone who has succeeded at a particular field will always remember a particular period of their life where they devoted their time to nothing but learning and practice. Infact, time is the unit of mastery, and you can measure how much of an expert you are, by how much time and attention you have given to developing competence in that particular field.
Conscious competence - You know you know
After a period of intense learning and focus, you will eventually come to a stage where you are aware of your competence. At this stage, you are good at what you do, and you know that you are good at what you do. It is at this stage that monetizing your expertise becomes easy because you are truly good at what you do. The key indicator of that you are in this stage is that you can create masterpieces with a lot of effort. That is, you have to focus and invest a lot of resources to create a truly exceptional product or service, but when you don’t apply that same focus, you create products and services that are just adequate.
Unfortunately, most people just stop here because of the applause of men, and the financial rewards they get for transacting their skills. It is easy, at this point, to become caught up in your ego and stop striving for mastery.
Unconscious competence - You don’t know how much you truly know.
This is the last stage of mastery and is a result of constantly and consistently honing your skill, even when you are deemed ‘good’ at what you do. By consistently striving to learn, become better, and practice, a shift eventually occurs in your brain. You begin to see the world differently. Not as it is, but as it can be. Like Michaelangelo, you no longer see the block of stone, all you see is David.
It is here, that you have the Midas Touch, and everything you touch turns to gold as you create excellence without trying.
The beauty of this framework is that it applies to everything you want to learn. If you want to enter any field of learning, recognize that you are unconsciously incompetent, but that’s good news. It means that there’s time and space for growth. Submit yourself to learning, and you’ll be surprised at just how much you will come to know in the days ahead.
In my next article, I’ll be talking about Specific Knowledge, and how it’s the path to becoming truly outstanding and generating lasting wealth. Subscribe if you don’t want to miss it. 😌
If you enjoyed part 2 of this series of mastery, hit the heart button and drop a comment under the post or reply by mail.
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Thanks for the revealing quadrant
I always count it as a privilege to read your emails😊 because it gives me access to knowledge you don't just stumble upon anywhere. Thank you sir!