In the first two pieces, we talked about developing competence and how to do that. Now it’s time to think about how to keep your competence once you’ve learned them. You can reach simple skills in 30 to 90 days, which you can do if you have 90% of the skills that people learn and improve. For bigger skills, like being a skilled coach, trainer, leader, manager, etc., it takes longer—usually years, not months—to get good at them.
To ask, “How can I keep being good at what I do?” understand a very important fact. In other words, every skill and competence will get worse if you don’t keep using them. “Cells that fire together will wire together” is also true at the level of the neurons in your brain and body. If cells don’t keep firing together, they won’t stay wired together. The cells will lose their ability to talk to each other. Since the neurons aren’t firing, they aren’t able to reach out and connect with other neurons. This makes the dendrites of the neurons shorter. As the links break down, this will show up in your behavior as a weakening of the skill, forgetting, etc.
Every skill and competence is dynamic in the sense that it is alive, it changes, and it needs to be reinforced all the time. Skills and abilities change over time. That’s why you and I have good days, bad days, and days in between. Some days we are really “on,” and other days our skills just aren’t there, so we are “off.” Competence is not a thing; it is a moving process, and as a process, it is up to you to keep it fresh and new. Otherwise, the skill will get worse and less useful over time.
Some people don’t seem to ever think about keeping their skills up, it seems. They think, “Once I get it, I will always have it.” They’re wrong, though. We all go through it. And the more complicated and involved a skill is, the more likely it is to get worse if it is not constantly updated.
Go Over the Basics
Skills and competencies must always be kept up-to-date. To get back up to speed on a skill or competence, go over the basics and give yourself to practicing it carefully and thoroughly. Do that all the time. Yes, at first it might feel childish, like you’re back in school, but it’s a way to review what you’ve learned and give your brain cells a chance to reconnect.
Break it down into Sub-skills
Next, break the skill or competence down into its smaller parts or sub-skills, and do each one with full awareness. Again, you tell your cells to fire at the same time. You can also go through this by helping someone else through it. As you do this, you are giving the person a place to stand. You are also sharing your knowledge and skills, so the person can learn from you. And by setting a good example for other people, you keep your own skills sharp. This might be one of the best things about being on the help team.
Conclusion
In fact, anything you do that brings you “back to basics” will have this effect. Get a basic book on coaching that you read when you first started and read it again. What do baseball players do at “spring training” every year before the season starts? They throw baseballs and catch them. That helps you hit the ball. These people who have been playing sports for a long time are going through a “back to basics” program. They are using the Hebbian learning method of waking up their neurons to connect them again.
To keep being good at something, you have to make practicing it a regular part of your life. Then it’s about how you act in the world. Think of it as your goal and reason. Find new nuances within the skill and practice them for the purpose of sharpening your skills. Then you will keep your skills up.
Curated by Danielle Tan.
Reference:
- [Certified_meta-coach] 2023 Morpheus #30 SUSTAINING COMPETENCE — HOW? by L. Michael Hall, Ph.D. Executive Director, ISNS.
