At first, the brain feels “Unconsciously Incompetent” in its ability to even approach learning something new, such as how to use social media in a work environment. The brain feels clueless, so it takes on the belief that “ignorance is bliss” and avoids the subject all together. Attempting to learn a subject of this magnitude can make an individual feel too overwhelmed, so instead of coming up with a game plan to embark on this learning journey, they avoid the topic all together. They might say something like, “The reason I don’t have a Facebook account is because I don’t think any of us should use social media! It’s seems like one big waste of time.”

Next, the brain enters a state of, “Conscious Incompetence”, where the brain realizes how much it doesn’t know but feels almost incapable of taking in all this new information. The individual makes the attempt to learn, but finds the learning curve steeper than expected. They feel awkward, confused, frustrated, and even fearful of exemplifying their newly acquired knowledge and applying it in a real work setting. Maybe they’ve gotten the courage to create some kind of online presence, but still feel totally inadequate with their skill level. The brain finds this step extremely challenging because it’s filled with such a high level of discomfort.

Step number three is when the brain starts to see progress and feels “Consciously Competent” in using social media. The individual, at this stage in the learning journey, starts feeling accomplished. They find themselves utilizing social media on a regular basis, even in professional settings. They no longer feel fearful or overwhelmed by the subject matter.

Finally, the brain starts to go on auto-pilot, now “Unconsciously Competent”. It now can intuitively and automatically apply the learning because it’s had the proper amount of time to embed the data into the long-term memory of the brain.  Being “Unconsciously Competent” gives the individual the confidence to expand their horizons, share their ideas with others, and figure out better ways to use social media in their specific line of work.

We live in such a different market place than we did in the past. People just can’t work the same way they did, before the social media invasion.  We have no choice but to learn.  By “labeling” our feelings, understanding our resistance, and giving ourselves adequate time to process new information, we can start (and keep) moving forward.

What stage are you at, and how have you progressed from one to the next?

Guest blogger Wendy Passer has been studying consumer behavior for over 25 years. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Journalism, from the University of Kansas, and holds a certification in brain based coaching skills. She has held multiple leadership positions in the Jewish Community, trying to move mindset forward. Presently, she is serving as Chair of her temple’s educational think tank; CSI Squared, which is funded by The Jewish Federation of Detroit and The Alliance for Jewish Education. She lives in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, with Mike, her husband of 24 years, and their two teenage daughters; Rachel & Hannah.  Click here for more information on the four stages of competence.

Of course, he learned how to ride a bike.  There was a breakthrough moment when he felt the balance, and another when he realized dad had let go for over 10 feet without telling him.  But getting there was not easy, simple, or predictable.  Building the skills he needed did not happen in a linear progression, and he did not get any positive feedback on his progress for 85% of the learning curve.  Ultimately, he learned how to feel his body and feel the bike, and let go of trying to over-think the endeavor.  Now he’s tearing down dirt paths.

It’s not so different learning to be a networked, social media savvy nonprofit.  Sometimes you try and try and nothing happens.  Sometimes you skin your knees a bit, or get frustrated with the equipment, or feel like you don’t even want to practice anymore.   In the Avi Chai Academy, the Jewish Day Schools have just completed a 3 week match campaign through Facebook Causes.  Everyone struggled, everyone learned. Some had their breakthrough moment, and others did not.  So they’ll keep practicing and soon they’ll find their balance just like Eli eventually did on his bike. And when they do, they’ll recognize all sorts of other possibilities now available to them, like mountain biking, and renting bikes on vacation, and entering a triathlon with a friend.

Learning new things is not comfortable.  We’ve all had plenty of practice studying for tests or memorizing facts, but not all learning happens in this bookish-academic-structured way.  Sometimes learning is more fluid — it’s about developing instincts, or rewriting the rules of engagement or the patterns of working that we’re used to.  Social media is not a memorizing-the-facts sort of learning.  It’s more like the feeling the balance of the bike and understanding your center of gravity and the power of shifting your weight sort of learning.

And as my son can tell you, you can expect to crash and burn at least a hundred times before you have your first ah-ha moment.  And that ah-ha moment is just the beginning, it’s not the end.  It’s just that little burst of confidence that you need to persevere to the next stage of learning.

More important than actually learning how to ride a bike was a life lesson Eli learned about perseverance.  Now he knows that he will face challenges and resistance from time to time in life.  He will feel frustration, and it will occur to him that he should just give up.   But now he also knows that if he just keeps at it, the breakthrough moment will eventually come.  Today he asked me if it’s hard to learn how to ride a unicycle.   Oh boy.

Eli’s first solo ride down the block:

That’s right. PLAYING.

Mid-text message, while the educator’s snarky responses to Charlie and Russel’s questions were popping up on the gigantic screens, and giggles were erupting throughout the ballroom, I had this vision in my mind: We’re all lion cubs. Children, of all species, play. They play not just because they’ve got nothing else better to do, but because they need to play to learn and practice the skills they will need to employ as adults. We play to learn balance, boundaries, social skills.

As adults, we often forget how to play in this way. We’ve grown out of it. It’s natural. But in an environment where we continually need to be learning new boundaries, new skills, new tools, this kind of play is actually really important. While we often focus on “professional development” and “training” (both of which are important and have their place), I was struck by these conferences’ ability to help us play. In my pre-conference Boot Camp at NATE, participants launched Twitter accounts, and tried their hand at blogging for the first time. Low risk, just play.  At JEA, a “technology theater” gave participants permission to sample tools and dabble in a simple, exploratory way.

In our work at Darim, we often observe that the “accidental techies” are educators.  “Accidental techies” are the people who are intrigued with a tool, play around, and start to accept responsibility for the organization’s social media activities.  I don’t think this is a coincidence.  Perhaps educators feel more permission to play.  Perhaps people who like to play as adults become educators.

Regardless, I encourage you to embrace your furry playful lion-cub self.   Go ahead, play a little!

And thanks to Russel and Charlie for presenting your rich and educational session is such a fun and playful way.  Kol HaKavod.  You taught us more than perhaps you had planned to.

Allison Fine signs copies of her book, Momentum

Allison Fine, author of Momentum was the keynote speaker at ACHARAI, the Shoshana S. Cardin Leadership Development Institute’s “Technology: Threat or Promise” event on Thursday, November 20. After setting the stage to help participants see the landscape of the field, Allison pointed to the group of teens seated at the back tables. These people are the future employees, and consumers of what our Jewish organizations have to offer. Allison urged us to listen to them, carefully. How are they using these tools, how are they making decisions, what do they want? The bottom line: communities are no longer being built from the top down, they are powered from the bottom up. We must empower and engage these young people to bring them into our community and organizations.

These teens came to the program to both learn and teach. One of the several break out sessions, led by Darim’s Director of the Learning Network, Caren Levine, employed the teens to help participants get hands-on experience with social media tools, such as wikis and blogs. The teens were able to help lower barriers to entry, so participants could experiment with the technology in a safe and supportive place.

Teens debrief at the end of the day

While the teens were instrumental in assisting the program, I think they walked away with more than they expected. Those who attended my session on social media theory and practice told me they had many “ah-ha moments” — that while they don’t think twice about the technology, they’d never paused to think about how it can be used strategically to help achieve a specific goal, and they were excited to see examples of really fun stuff happening online in the Jewish world.

Hats off to Debs Weinberg and her team for organizing such a thoughtful, educational and inspiring event. In my vision, the next stage of Jewish organizational life will fuse experienced strategic thinkers with younger “we’ve grown up on this stuff” staff to shift organizational practice into relevant 21st century modes. These young people may have walked in thinking they were contributing to the teaching, but they left with much more. Sitting in on the debrief after the conference, I was amazed to hear what they had learned. The skills they developed in this one day will position them to be incredibly valuable in the job market as they graduate in the coming years.