Learning to learn – Why knowledge is not the same as ability

"I know how to do it" – "No, you only think you do!" To get really good in something, we need lots of practice. At the same time, many learning formats are degenerating into information sessions. And motivation to really stretch onerself is dwindling. Effective soft skill learning designs stimulate thoughts and self-reflection. They give room for applied know-how and not just know-what. A deep learning process leads you through these 4 stages:

• Unconscious incompetence: I don't know what I don't know (and what I am unable to)
• Conscious incompetence: I know what I don't know (and what I am unable to)
• Conscious competence: I know what I know (and what I am able to)
• Unconscious competence: I don't know (anymore) what I know (and what I am able to)

People systematically underestimate their incompetence. This distortion in one's own self-perception is also known as the Dunning-Kruger effect after the authors of a classic study. What can you do? Take conscious action! Reflect on and think about what you are doing, why you are doing it, and why it is working (or not). And have fun learning step by step. If you want to read the study by Dunning & Kruger, you will find it here:
Kruger, J. & Dunning D. (1999): Unskilled and unaware of it. How difficulties in recognizing one's own incompetence lead to inflated self-assessments. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 77 (6), 1121–1134.