We have been discussing in previous articles the Four Key Stages of Learning in the relation to the conscious and unconscious mind. It is a methodology or philosophy used by millions of professional sports people worldwide, but is equally applicable to the manager looking to improve their personal development by undertaking a management training course.

To stick with the previously discussed analogy of riding a bike (or driving a car) for the first time, you have struggled to gain familiarity with the mechanics and operations of travelling in or on your new machine. You were in stage two of learning, Conscious Incompetence, and as such you played it safe, navigating the back roads or open fields, where you could avoid being a danger to yourself or others.

Key Stage Three – Conscious Competence

You have become more confident and proficient, and have progressed to having your stabilisers removed. Congratulations, you have reached the stage of Conscious Competence. You have learnt the basic skill, you know you can do it, but it takes a good deal of concentration, and you have yet to master it. This is the time when you need to practice, practice, and practice. And then practice some more.

In previous articles, we have begun to explore the value of understanding of how the conscious and unconscious mind operates in relation to your personal development and learning.

As you read this article, your unconscious mind may be busy dealing with background noises (which you may only now be consciously aware of!) lighting conditions, digestion, or scratching an itchy ankle. When something is not within the scope of our present moment awareness, it’s an unconscious process. In fact, the vast majority of our behaviour derives from the influence of our subconscious, based on our experience, values, conditioning, etc.

We’ve looked at stage one of learning, that of unconscious incompetence. Now let’s turn our attention to the next level:

Key Stage Two – Conscious Incompetence

Think of when you started to learn to ride a bike as a child. You didn’t really understand the relationship between the pedals and the chain, the chain and the wheels etc. You had to get to grips with steering, pedalling, braking and watching for obstacles so some kind soul made life a little easier for you with some stabilizers, to leave mastering balance until later.

You were discovering your limits and challenges in riding this bike (or driving a car for the first few lessons). This is the stage when you have to concentrate hard on all the different activities. In short, this is your stage of Conscious Incompetence and this is the stage at which you learn the most.

We have often heard it said that the human mind is more complex and powerful than even the most advanced computers. However, studies such as those carried out by George Miller (cognitive psychologist and author of The Magic Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two: Some Limits on Our Capacity for Processing Information) tells us that our conscious mind is capable of dealing with only a small number of chunks of information at a time.

It is the unconscious mind then, that holds the key and the ability to deals with life’s vast array of challenges, intricacies and complexities. It’s this basic relationship between the conscious and unconscious that forms the foundation of learning. From this we can stipulate the Four Key Stages of Learning (see previous article of the same title).

Whether you are looking to get the most out of your sales training, soft skills development, or just looking to improve your own personal development, it is very useful to understand each of the four principles.

Key Stage 1 – Unconscious Incompetence

You don’t know how to do something. In fact, not only that, but you don’t know that you don’t know! Never having performed brain surgery, or piloted an aircraft – you have no real clue as to what it is like.

Leading organisations are concerned with the ongoing personal development of their staff. As such, much investment is made in the internal and/or external training of employees, covering a vast array of topics and themes from customer service and sales training to administrative skills and debt collection.

What underlies any types of new staff development, and transcends all topics is the structure of learning in relation to the conscious and unconscious mind in the learner. Whether you outsource your training requirements, or whether you choose to train within, having an understanding of the psychological steps of learning will help you achieve your desired outcomes.

In 1956, the American cognitive psychologist George Miller wrote a paper; The Magic Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two: Some Limits on Our Capacity for Processing Information.

From his work, we can learn that our conscious mind has a very limited capacity to actively handle amounts of concurrent information – typically about seven different variables at a time. However, we inherently have a huge capacity to absorb, respond and respond to information that surrounds us. This multitude of information of handled by our unconscious mind.

Educators and educational psychologists understand the inter-relationship between the conscious and unconscious mind, and are able to use this knowledge to improve the learning and development capacity of an individual.