Conscious Competence – ElPropósito3 min de lectura

Photo by Ante Hamersmit on Unsplash

Looking beyond what’s right in front of us has big implications, especially when it shakes our limiting beliefs. In a changing world it’s important to see things from several angles, ideally wide enough to see the whole forest along with the tree. What makes a company, an organization or a person see more and more of the tree and less of the forest? What lets us take a more holistic, complete view of a situation? How can we see beyond our own first circle, the ego?

There’s no easy answer. It’s commendable to reach a point in life where you’ve found a strategy, or more accurately a tactic, that works for achieving success and results. The question is whether it’s sustainable. Does it benefit everyone or only a few? Does it create wellbeing, or frustration and, at worst, anxiety? Many companies and people are very good at getting results (which doesn’t necessarily make them successful), yet at a VERY high cost, especially the cost of constantly dodging the responsibility to think beyond the ego ("we’ve always done it this way and it’s worked, so why change?").

Can we stay unconsciously incompetent all our lives? In a world this globalized, this technological and this saturated with information, the answer may now be no. Short-term strategies or tactics for getting results are falling out of use, largely because we’re increasingly aware of the harm we do to others and to the world. I believe we’ve reached a moment where we need to think about others, their feelings, their needs and their overall wellbeing. We can’t keep chasing results under the illusion of the short term and "my way or no way" tactics.

Truly successful companies and people define success by the wellbeing they create on many fronts. I mentioned values and limiting beliefs at the start, and I think it’s precisely at that deep, personal level that the shift can happen for us to become consciously competent. The world runs on principles that can’t be changed, however much we’d like to. The truth and reality of things, for instance, will always have a single shade, however many colors you paint them. Consistency is another great principle, the one that defines our actions and how well they match our words.

Understanding what we can’t see takes humility and accepting that there’s no single way of seeing the world. Humanity’s best examples of leadership are those who stayed true to their purpose and values and, above all, trusted the people around them, listened and learned from others. They know there will always be an unknown dimension beyond their own view of the world, and one great way to approach it is alongside other people. That’s what trust is about.

Warm regards,

Rodrigo Baccaro

• P.S. This week’s VELA (what I was Watching, Listening to, Reading and Learning):
• What I was Watching: Jordan Peterson. The Ben Shapiro Show Sunday Special Ep. 114. One of the great episodes out there and maybe one of my favorites, with Jordan Peterson and Ben Shapiro. Worth watching, especially to understand Peterson’s second book
  – What I was Listening to: Lo que la muerte enseña. The title may sound scary, but it shouldn’t. There’s a great lesson here in how to start looking at the day that will come sooner or later
  – What I was Reading: 12 Rules for Life. A book for reflection, as I work to understand and absorb many of its ideas and concepts
  – What I was Learning: Why is the Stock Market Up When the Economy is Down? A very good video for understanding how the economy has moved over the last year and a half, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic began

Author: Rodrigo Baccaro

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