Pitfall
It’s incredibly easy to say to someone “Watch out for that trap up ahead!” when their perspective of the trap is completely outside of the path towards it. Meanwhile those on the path towards the trap see only plain ground, sensible solutions and inevitably become victims to the consequences, and pitfall into a learned behavior.
When it comes to shared knowledge, there are things that are teachable, offer guidance and helpful tips. Even whole walkthrough solutions. In the modern day you can look up any guide or index just about any information that you want if you know what to ask. So then question becomes ‘well what do you ask?’ and you know that there are solutions out there and better methods and pathways and if you spend the time to seek them out you can save yourself a lot of trouble! But there are some pitfalls.
Which brings me to the core of this… Knowing there is that information, better solutions alterative methods, more optimized practices or better use case. I find that I can fall into what I believe is the1Dunning–Kruger effect and cognitive bias rather quickly.
Conscious competence
The individual understands or knows how to do something. It may be broken down into steps, and there is heavy conscious involvement in executing the new skill. However, demonstrating the skill or knowledge requires concentration, and if it is broken, they lapse into incompetence2.
A points of note for myself is biases in what I’ll refer to as my personal pitfalls, I am by no means a philosopher or psychologist, but discussion of these terms and recent research into them assisted me with recognizing some of the behavioral tendencies I’ve been exhibiting. And there is quite likely a chance that I am placing on top of this another bias or fallacy which would bring about an irony in my ignorance. But I digress.
What I wished to write down and discern, was some of the behaviors I’ve been exuding. As I want to make conscience decisions. Be more intentional with how I approach my work, and habits. In hopes of adjusting myself to be lesser prone to these behaviors.
Efficiently inefficient
A recent discussion with my partner had her make note of something about a behavior of mine. Which that I am knowledgeable about higher skilled processes, and because of that knowledge would attempt to circumvent the initial work required to do the task with the most efficient or shortest path, with higher efficiency. Instead of just doing and completing the task with any of the selected paths to it’s completion. From this a loop emerges of needing to try again and a subconscious goal of justifying the now tremendous more effort put into the task that has been completed several times over in a self-justification of efficiency. Stemming from inferred knowledge that a better solution must be viable and therefore be sought out instead of completing the task and moving on.
And while pointed out in this regard, it seems quite obvious to outside observers just how silly it is in the goal setting and achievement to see the same task repeated over and over as wasteful actions. But for the person who is locked into the loop, the requirement to prove one’s self to themselves of their knowledge and grounds of their intelligence the task becomes greater weighted personally than the initial goal set. Because the feeling of failure from inability to justify the knowledge cuts deep. It isn’t only that you self identify as failing the task, but that you failed the task multiple times over with the inability to apply your greater knowledge and solving the task isn’t rewarding in amongst itself anymore. For the looped victim there must be a larger benefit to the work involved then completion of the task. Which is where I might be misrepresenting or perhaps misconstruing the prior named effects and competences and biases. And it can just be said that I seem to like to bash my head into walls.
Correction
So now what, we’ve established a pattern of behavior that is problematic, how should be go about solving these? Firstly recognizing them! Which is in itself kind of difficult, as the desire to prove oneself is quite innate. Along with others assistance and those mentioned points not really as helpful to the person who is taking on the task at hand, because they also know that their behavior is inefficient which is fueling their want to alter and fix it in the first place. How does one break free of the seeking of perfection? How does one decide when enough is enough? What determines break points?
I don’t have answers to those, as I know my desires as a person who is struggling with these issues am clouded by my bias and perspectives regarding it. So the steps I’m taking is just self acknowledging it as a problem, writing a blog about it. And making effort decisions about tackling tasks in hopes to begin the path onto learning how to break from the loop. Asking for assistance with those close to me to help identify and make note of them. And will see if we report back on improvement. Regardless steps taken are steps towards as well as can be steps away. Direction and intention guide your growth.
Footnotes
-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curse_of_knowledge https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_stages_of_competence ↩
-
Flower J. In the mush. Physician Exec. 1999 Jan-Feb; 25 (1): 64-6. PMID: 10387273. ↩
══════════════•°• ∵ •°•══════════════