The Four Stages of Learning

Unconscious incompetence

In the first stage of learning you don't know you're no good - ignorance is bliss! Sometimes this comes from simply having preconceptions about how easy a task is and sometimes it comes from not knowing there's a better way. Dysfunctional teams and developers are often unaware of what they're doing wrong, even if it becomes obvious when scrutinized.

Conscious incompetence

The second stage of learning is the tricky one as it starts to dawn that you're not actually all that good! At this stage, teams and developers need a lot of support to prevent them wallowing in despair and to help them select and adopt new techniques.

Conscious competence

In the third stage of learning you're consciously applying the techniques you need in order to be "good". Here teams and developers know what they should be doing but need their momentum to be maintained, often by external encouragement and review.

Unconscious competence

At the fourth stage of learning you're naturally doing things right.