{"id":597,"date":"2013-08-28T18:16:59","date_gmt":"2013-08-28T17:16:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/carolinegourlay.wordpress.com\/?p=102"},"modified":"2021-06-15T12:04:11","modified_gmt":"2021-06-15T12:04:11","slug":"why-it-doesnt-pay-to-be-too-smart-when-youre-learning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.carolinegourlay.co.uk\/why-it-doesnt-pay-to-be-too-smart-when-youre-learning\/","title":{"rendered":"Why it doesn’t pay to be too smart when you’re learning"},"content":{"rendered":"
How quickly do you learn? Are you one of those people who picks things up with ease? Feel slightly smug in training courses? Don\u2019t need anything explaining twice? Well here\u2019s a way of thinking about learning that might give you pause for thought. From my favourite assessment measure, the Cognitive Process Profile<\/a> (CPP), comes the distinction between \u2018Quick Insight\u2019 and \u2018Gradual Improvement\u2019 learning.<\/p>\n Quick insight learning is when you pick things up through learning a new theory or by putting ideas together to come up with one of those \u2018Aha\u2019 moments (as I did when I came up with this blog post). Gradual improvement is where skills and knowledge are acquired more slowly through practice. We all use both but people often have an aptitude, and a preference, for one over the other. Perhaps unsurprisingly, bright people often prefer quick insight learning.<\/p>\n Now I confess I\u2019ve always prided myself on being a fairly smart cookie and was pleased when the CPP confirmed my aptitude for quick insight learning. Give me a bit of challenging theory (OK maybe not physics) and I\u2019m in my element. As is often the case, though, pride came before a fall. In my case, I took up drawing. I lapped up ideas about colour theory, negative space and the rules of perspective. But did that mean I could draw? Not a chance.<\/p>\n When you can\u2019t do it all in your head<\/b><\/p>\n What I’d overlooked is that when you introduce a physical element into whatever you\u2019re trying to learn, quick insight is of limited use. Art, crafts, sport, music, cooking, dancing \u2013 many of the things which make life worthwhile \u2013 all require a hefty dollop of gradual improvement learning.<\/a> Even if you’re a dedicated workaholic, who shuns anything as frivolous as a hobby, work related skills, such as public speaking, require practice.<\/p>\n I meet a lot of quick insight learners who \u2013 once they\u2019ve swiftly absorbed the concept \u2013 say they don\u2019t have the patience for gradual improvement learning. In my experience, this masks a deeper truth. People who think of themselves as smart struggle to tolerate the discomfort of being inept. I used to cry with frustration in art classes at my inability to translate the image in my head into an image on paper.<\/p>\n Missing out the uncomfortable bit<\/b><\/p>\n You may have come across the four stages of learning<\/a>, which we move through when we learn:<\/p>\n Quick insight learning allows people to jump straight from \u2018unconscious incompetence\u2019 to at least a degree of \u2018conscious competence\u2019. You don\u2019t know something, then you learn about it, assimilate it into your mental model of the world and you\u2019re good to go. Say you discover a new way of categorising your customer base. You grasp the idea, apply it to your marketing database and a whole new way of thinking about opportunities emerges. I\u2019ve seen people retrospectively beat themselves up for not already knowing the thing they just learned \u2013 \u2018How could I have been so ignorant\/na\u00efve? Why did I not see this before?\u2019 \u2013 but they do this from the security of knowing that they\u2019ve got it now. Their view of themselves as capable remains intact.<\/p>\n Acknowledging your incompetence<\/b><\/p>\n Compare that with sitting at a piano wanting to play Rachmaninoff yet struggling to master Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Now you really have to face your own incompetence and that can bring up a lot of uncomfortable feelings, from frustration to embarrassment and even shame. And that\u2019s when many people give up.<\/a> I\u2019ve met a lot of successful, capable people who admit that they avoid even trying things that they don\u2019t think they\u2019ll be any good at. I sometimes wonder whether this is why the stereotypical geek is often bad at sport \u2013 used to picking things up quickly and progressing from there, they don\u2019t put in the hours of practice that it takes to master a physical skill, especially if it didn\u2019t come naturally to them in the first place.<\/p>\n Two ways of seeing progress<\/b><\/p>\n Of course, gradual improvement plays a part in developing skills which you may acquire through quick insight. After 12 years, my interpretation of someone\u2019s cognitive profile from the CPP is much more nuanced than it was when I first started using it. But I only realise that looking back. At any given moment over those years, I felt confident that I knew what I was doing.<\/p>\n With skills that require gradual improvement learning it\u2019s the other way around. You have to start knowing what you\u2019re aiming for, which may seem almost unattainable, and be satisfied with the small steps you take along the way. Mastering Twinkle Twinkle Little Star has to become a cause for celebration not proof that you still can\u2019t play Rachmaninoff\u2019s piano concerto.<\/p>\n Hubris and humility<\/b><\/p>\n In my case, I stuck with the art, at least for a while, and eventually produced something I was prepared to give house room.\u00a0 This image of droopy sunflowers hangs above the kitchen table <\/a>and, while it may not be Van Gogh, I am proud of the rusty enamel jug. In the end, though, I didn\u2019t have the perseverance to keep it going, unlike my husband who has a far greater capacity for practice and whose paintings adorn our walls. <\/p>\n But learning to draw taught me a lot about learning in general and about patience and humility, lessons I\u2019m trying to put into practice as I attempt to learn mindfulness meditation. So if you are a smart, fast-learner and you really want to stretch yourself, I can wholeheartedly recommend taking up something you can only develop through practice \u2013 cake decorating, flamenco dancing, playing the trombone, doesn\u2019t really matter what. You may be surprised what you learn about yourself in the process.<\/p>\n Photo credits:<\/p>\n Alex E Proimo<\/a><\/p>\n\n
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