Are They Really Discoveries?

This month we used to celebrate Columbus Day which is now more appropriately called Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Thinking about the day, what it stands for and the controversary around it made me realize all my ‘discoveries’ in life have been just like Columbus – I discovered something that was already there.

Whenever I make a discovery – whether it’s about life in general, a great gluten-free recipe, or about myself – I’m so proud of the work I did to ‘discover.’ But did I really discover?

To me, the word discover means to find something no one else has found; to unearth a hidden secret; to become aware of an unknown.

In reality, when I discover something new, basically I’m just being exposed to something that has always been there until I tripped into it. Whatever I discovered was already there, I was unaware of it until my perception included the new thing.

A number of years ago, I read Noel Burch’s competency model of the four stages of learning anything new and believe these four stages are the steps I go through to ‘discover’ something new, like Colombus.

Stage 1: Unconsciously Incompetent
​Wrong Intuition I Don’t Know That I Don’t Know

Stage 2: Consciously Incompetent
​Wrong Analysis I Know That I Don’t Know

Stage 3: Consciously Competent
​Right Analysis I Know That I Know

Stage 4: Unconsciously Competent or Mastery
​Right Intuition I Don’t Know That I Know

Recently, a new addition to the competence model that builds on the previous four levels by bringing in the idea you are so familiar with your skill you can teach it to others.

Stage 5: Conscious Competence of Unconscious Incompetence
​Reflective Ability

I’m curious about so many ideas and understand I’ve traveled through many of these stages, even sometimes reaching Stage 5. Knowing and understanding the stages has supported my learning and patience to absorb new material.

Just wondering what else is already out there waiting for me to discover?

Katie