The concept of unconscious competence and how to avoid meltdown at work

I recall a lecturer from my psychotherapy training saying during a lecture that experiencing anxiety when about to give a presentation was due to incompetence and a failure to prepare. I remember thinking at the time that this view seemed a bit harsh. What about people suffering the symptoms of GAD, I thought, when physical symptoms of anxiety could pervade for no apparent reason, no matter what level of competence one had, or how well one prepared? However, I see now that there can be times when we focus on what can go wrong rather than on what can go right and that this can contribute to our anxious state of mind. That’s when we allow our thinking to induce a meltdown. It is perfectly normal to feel nervous when facing challenges such as delivering an important presentation or completing an extensive set of important tasks at work. However, the real problem comes when we focus on the things that might go wrong.

Dave Alred‘s new book The Pressure Principle deals with how to boost performance and how to avoid meltdown. Alred calls himself an elite performance coach (he was previously the personal coach to Jonny Wilkinson) and maintains that we can use pressure (his term for stress) to perform as a vitalising energy to improve performance. For footballers about to take a penalty kick, according to Alred, the key in achieving optimum performance is not to think about the fans reaction or the hostile press coverage in the event of missing, but to keep the focus on the one crucial moment which will help to stay in the moment and deliver. In that instance the focus needs to be on making connection between boot to ball, and nothing else.

Sports psychologists are not really saying anything new. Their attraction is in repackaging certain concepts in a digestible manner appropriate for the setting. For example, in psychology, there is the concept of the conscious competence learning model, or sometimes referred to as the four stages of competence. When learning a new skill this model helps inform us of the psychological states involved in the process of progressing from incompetence to competence. The theory is that individuals are initially unaware of how little they know, so are unconscious of their incompetence. However, as they become aware of their incompetence, they acquire a skill on a conscious level, and consciously use that skill. Following more practice, the skill can be used without having to think it through. This is when someone has acquired “unconscious competence”; when they direct their focus on one tiny process it frees their unconscious mind to concentrate on the delivery. Think of when you are driving a car, you are in that mode. You are not consciously thinking of foot to pedal and co-ordination with the steering wheel, you do it seamlessly.

It is this concept of ‘unconscious competence’ that sports psychologists maintain is crucial in order to perform as champions. This is why sports teams try not to think too much about the preparation but rather to switch off mentally before the event. It is also when individuals go and do what they are best at doing, without thinking too much about it. They are in the zone. Sian Beilock has recently contributed to this field with her book Choke: What the Secrets of the Brain Reveal about Getting It Right When You Have to which explains the neuroscience of performance.

One example of choking can be seen here when World number 1 Rory McIlroy imploded and suffered a meltdown by missing simple shots in a major tournament.

Choking can also apply to performances in the arts and in business, or in any sector requiring peak performance. So, when giving a presentation you can avoid a meltdown by learning to cope with the physical symptoms of anxiety and avoid choking. For example, your focus should be on projecting your voice to the person in the back row (so that the whole room can hear you) rather than worrying about what could go wrong in your presentation.

For useful tips on how to avoid meltdown and to better understand the concept of “unconscious competence” see my article How to more easily avoid a meltdown at work.