Comments on: Four Levels of Competency

By: Dark Horse

Dark Horse — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 16:26:57 +0000

The theory is the Conscious Comptence Theory developed originally by Dr. Abraham Maslow (as in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs) in the 1940’s. This information was NOT developed by any of the people listed above. It is not a “Christian” idea at all and John Maxwell adapted the information for his book 21 Laws (Law of Process), but he never gave proper attribution. I think it’s terrible that Maxwell ripped off the idea, massaged it a bit and sold it as his own. There are several “laws” in his book that he did this with. I suggest you research or google four stages of learning or the conscious competence theory and see what comes up. Also, a website out of the UK called businessballs.com is a great source on this topic also.

By: jenny b

jenny b — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 23:29:01 +0000

Normally you see Howell’s levels labeled as such:

Unconscious incompetence
Conscious incompetence
Conscious competence
Unconscious competence

By: Jeremy Smith

Jeremy Smith — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 20:03:05 +0000

The above material should be credited to William Howell of the University of Minnesota, a well known Communications theorist.

By: Gabriel Morton

Gabriel Morton — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 08:19:04 +0000

John Maxwell talks about this a lot in his books as well. He is probably quoting from the guys at Cornell.

Maxwell also talks about the three phases of quoting someone. They go something like this:

1. Craig Groeschel once said, “Where there is no Chazown, the people perish.”

2. A great man once said, “Where there is no Chazown, the people perish.”

3. I have always said, “Where there is no Chazown, the people perish.”

Hehe - hope the humor is considered on topic…. ^_^

By: Darren Chapman

Darren Chapman — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 22:49:27 +0000

Found a source for a slightly different take on the same idea here at: http://www.erinhoops.ca/ArticlesFolder/4_phases_of_learning.htm

It credits W. C. Howell - 1982 from the work ‘Information Processing and Decision Making’ and it mixes the last 2 phases. The model states that a person enters a level of conscious compentence where they can do a task through cognitive recognition before they move to unconscious competence where it just comes naturally.

It’s a good thought but I agree with how you’ve put it in relation to gifts Craig. Thanks again!

By: Ted

Ted — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 16:12:06 +0000

Looks a lot like the Johari Window

By: Jan

Jan — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 16:04:30 +0000

I think I am just entering phase 4 - and I’m 42! Yikes!

By: jason

jason — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 16:03:11 +0000

Craig,
Thanks for the insight!

By: Craig Groeschel

Craig Groeschel — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 14:36:55 +0000

Andrew, Thanks for connecting us with the source.

Jim, You asked about a time line. It would depend on the person’s experience and the roll. When I’m working with someone, I often show them these four levels. By the end of 30-60 days they should start figuring out which was is up. I’ve found in most of our more challenging roles, it takes about 24 months to hit known competency.

By: Matt Beeman

Matt Beeman — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 14:23:55 +0000

Off the top of my head, this reminded me of situational leadership theory.

By: Mike Jones

Mike Jones — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 14:21:20 +0000

That’s really interesting, I never thought about it like that. Makes a lot of sense though.

By: Andrew HNV

Andrew HNV — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 14:16:20 +0000

The source is two guys from Cornell University, Justin Kruger and David Dunnin. They were published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology in December 1999. In 2000 they won the Nobel Prize for their efforts. For the record, I have never met either of them; just read the article.

By: jim

jim — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 13:22:33 +0000

Would there be a timeline involved in trying to move people from one competency to another? I would not want a staff member stuck on #1 for 9 months to a year.

By: jason

jason — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 13:20:13 +0000

Great thoughts.
Straw poll. Where would most of your key support staff fall on this scale?

Blessings,
Jason

By: LaMo

LaMo — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 13:05:49 +0000

Great observations! The question we all need to answer now is how do we move people from one level to the next?!