Four stages of competence

In psychology, the four stages of competence relate to the psychological states involved in the process of progressing from incompetence to competence in a skill.

• The first stage is unconscious incompetence, in which an individual does not possess a skill, and furthermore, does not recognizes the deficit or has no desire to acquire the skill.

• The second stage is conscious incompetence, where the individual does not know how to do something, or does not understand something, but recognizes the deficit, although he or she has not yet begun to address that deficit.

• In the third stage, conscious competence, the individual knows how to do something or understands something. However, demonstrating the skill or knowledge requires a great deal of consciousness or concentration.

• In the last of the four stages, unconscious competence, the individual has had so much practice with a skill that it becomes "second nature". The person can perform the skill easily (often without concentrating too deeply) and also teach it to others. It is the last of the four stages of competence.