David
Thanks you for bringing your matrix to our attention. There are two
aspects to it which intrigue me greatly.
Firstly, "unconscious competence" elegantly explains the phenomenon first
articulated (to my knowledge) in the late 1960's by Billy Jean King, the
tennis player, as being "in the zone." . This same concept has been
explored from another angle by Timothy Galway in his "Inner Game" series
of books (Tennis, Golf, etc.). In much earlier times, the "Parable of the
Assassins" (where one gains status in that religious order through
answering more and more difficult questions, only to find, at the pinnacle
of "knowlege," that there are no more answers, only questions) plows the
same field.
Secondly, this is a very curious 2X2 matrix. All of those similar
explantory schemas of which I am familiar (see virtually any HBR issue for
some examples) tend to have one thing in common--axes defined by
"goodness" and "badness" which lead one diagonally to some sort of nirvana
in the Northeast quadrant of the matrix. Yours, on the other hand,
follows a quirky, circuitous route, around the edges of the matrix, ending
at the Southeast quadrant (as I draw it). Very interesting.
But, what if the matrix itself were moving? What if what one thought was
competence when one started the circuitous path was in fact incompetence
by the time one got there? Billy Jean may have been in the zone when she
first played Chris Evert, but Chris eventually shifted the zone (raised
the standard of competence) and then beat her consistently. As Martina
shifted the zone on Chris, and Steffi shifted the zone on Martina, Martina
II (Hingis) on Steffi, etc. ad infinitum.
However, fit the two concepts together (a a matrix with a circuitous
internal path, but which moves, externally, over time), and what you get
is an epicycle, which I've always thought as being a very, very good model
for the process of learning. Thanks for giving these thoughts some useful
support (even if you did so "unconsciously!").
All the best
Richard Goodale
--Richard Goodale <fc45@dial.pipex.com>
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